NEW LEXINGTON — For Jeremy Duerr, stepping away from basketball coaching has been “like a grieving process.”
For the first time in 10 years, he won’t be leading his New Lexington basketball program through the rigors of an offseason. His evenings are free, minus family duties and watching beloved son and No, 1 Panther fan, Archie, play tee ball.
Duerr, who resurrected the Panther boys program from the dead in 2015, made his resignation official on May 5 after amassing a 127-114 record. He leaves behind one of the Muskingum Valley League’s most consistent programs in his tenure, one that reached three straight district finals from 2023-25 and posted an 87-37 record since 2020.
Walking away from it is a decision that wasn’t made quickly — or without some agonizing.
A Jackson Township native, near Massillon, Duerr once had dreams of coaching in college after a stint as a graduate assistant job at Malone while earning his master’s degree. He certainly never imagined he would have stayed in Perry County, about as stark of a comparison from his upbringing as the United States and Antarctica, through his early adulthood.
Four kids and a Sweet 16 appearance later, he became a part of the New Lex fabric. He had his chances to leave but chose to stay because of a community he said has always supported him and his program.
“It’s hard to pull the trigger,” Duerr said. “This has been rough.”
But it was a decision he felt was necessary. He admitted the losing in the 2025-26 season, when he spoke openly about players he felt didn’t buy in like past teams, wore on him as the season progressed. He still wound up at The Convo playing for a fourth straight district final berth.
There are also personal matters. A fourth child has made for a difficult balancing act, and he will soon be entering a school administrative role after recently finishing his qualifications.
Added up, it made the decision a logical one.
“It was back and forth,” Duerr admitted. “Archie was the hardest part. That dude loves the Panthers. Every morning it’s ‘Bye dad, love you dad, go Panthers!’ That makes it rough.”
Duerr took over a 2-21 team from 2015-16. At the time, they had gone 18 years without reaching a district tournament (when sectionals still existed), and Duerr told the Times Recorder after being hired that it would be three to four years before the principles of the program he envisioned set in.
He couldn’t have been more accurate. In 2020, they pulled off a first-round upset of an 18-win Sheridan team in the sectional. By 2021, the Panthers had their most wins since 1972 and a sectional title as a No. 8 seed.
They’ve been to the Convo every year since. Duerr called the combination of a reconfigured MVL and some strong classes of talent that had been through the system since youth league “was a perfect storm” that helped create regular season and postseason success.
It was that Logyn Ratliff and Brady Hanson-led team in 2021, post-COVID 19, that got the proverbial ball rolling.
“We won that sectional title back when it meant something,” Duerr said of that 2020-21 squad, which won 17 games. “Once we accomplished something, it was, ‘We should expect this.'” We had some good groups come through after that.'”
He thanked his players and parents, and especially the New Lex athletic community for consistently staying behind the program as it tried to build a winner with an outsider.
It was a primary reason he stayed when opportunities knocked elsewhere.
“The New Lex community has a way of wrapping its arms around you and not letting go,” Duerr said. “That is what happened to me. I just got comfortable with the role in the high school, feeling like people like you and support you. You don’t get that everyplace. … If you are at a place that supports you, that doesn’t happen everywhere.”
Maysville coach Dave Brown, who has led the Panthers to three consecutive state tournaments, played Duerr’s teams in the regional semifinals in 2025 before winning a state title. He faced his teams many times in the years prior as their careers nearly mirrored each other in tenure.
“One thing I always respected was how much his teams improved from the start of the season to tournament time,” Brown said. “You always knew New Lexington was going to be playing their best basketball in February and March.”
He also said Duerr “was just a genuinely good guy.”
“Before games we would always talk for a few minutes, and he always made a point to ask how my family was doing,” Brown said. “In this profession, you remember people like that. He represented New Lex the right way for a decade.”
He didn’t rule out coaching in the future, but he plans to take the year off as he ties up loose ends on a personal level. He remains the school guidance counselor at the high school.
New Lex athletic director Amanda McCoy said in a statement that Duerr has been “a great addition” to the district and will stay on with the school, calling him “a loyal Panther.”
Jimbo Russell and sons Jimmy and Colin, both former Panther standouts, have been longtime Duerr assistants and heavily involved in the gameday and preparatory operations. A new coach has not yet been named.
“I’m sure his guidance will be helpful to whomever is chosen as his successor in the near future,” McCoy said of Duerr. “We are very excited for the program that he has built and plan to keep nourishing its development in the years to come.”
sblackbu@usatodayco.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Duerr’s decision to resign from New Lex basketball not easy, he says
Reporting by Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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