Sometimes you just can’t stay away.

Back in February, longtime basketball coach John Hritz retired for the second time, supposedly ending a career that spans over four decades.

After five months away from the game, Hritz decided that retirement wasn’t an option for him and wanted to get back in the game as quickly as he could.

While originally angling for an assistant role, Hritz ended up with an even bigger job. Struthers, the district he spent 18 years at, just so happened to have a head coach opener for their girls basketball team.

It was a perfect match.

“Well, I found out that sitting home and doing nothing is just not for me,” Hritz said. “I just couldn’t do it. I’m too active. I couldn’t be going to the YMCA every day as much as I’d like to, but I thought it’s best that I do something. I was actually looking for an assistant coaching job. I spoke to a couple guys about being an assistant, I’d be more than happy to help out.”

His first retirement was back in 2011 after a near-decade long stint at Liberty. It didn’t last long as he quickly got back on the bench as an assistant coach before taking over at Leetonia, where he’d stay for another near-decade.

“I took a year off and I almost went out of my mind, because I’ve got to do something,” Hritz said. “Leetonia at that time was looking for a coach, they called me and said, ‘Hey, come on down’ and I spent nine years down there. It seems like time flies when you’re having fun. That’s basically all I can do is coach. I can’t fix things, I’m not handy. I figure, let me coach and have some fun and it’s still a lot of fun.”

The fun part of returning to a place you spent a long time is the potential reunions. Reconnecting with former players and the chance of seeing a familiar last name or two on the roster is a thrill as well.

But as exciting as all the extra stuff is, Hritz isn’t letting all the extra things about his return distract from the basketball. After all, the basketball is what’s even more exciting to him.

“I’ve gotten so many messages from all of the people that I’ve had before,” Hritz said. “It’s so overwhelming to me. I just can’t get over all this. I’m excited about coaching and I know our schedule next year is tough. We open up next year with Canfield and we’ve got West Branch. We’ve got a heck of a schedule next year. It’s going to be a challenge.

“The thing about our team is the kids are very young. We only have one senior, two juniors, and the rest of them are sophomores and freshmen. It’s nice having young kids because you can mold them into the way you want them to play, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m just excited.”

Hritz has also made stops at Jackson-Milton, Newton Falls, and Campbell and with over 500 wins to his name, he is bringing a lot of experience to a team that’s looking for just that.

He’s excited to take Struthers’ athletes and mold them into basketball players.

“They’re good kids. It’s nice to be around them,” Hritz said. “It keeps you sharp. Got to be on your toes when you’re around, you know, and it’s just enjoyable, very enjoyable. So, I’m just hoping that I can, you know, help these kids and make them basketball players.

In his years coaching, one of his highlights was dispatching an extremely successful West Branch team. The Warriors had a record of 22-2. Hritz’s team shut down the Warriors to get the win.

“Our game plan was, we took the air out of the ball and we just ran like a semi-stall offense,” Hritz said. “We actually ended up beating West Branch by one point. I don’t think they were used to playing a slow-type ball game and they kind of panicked. I think we just shocked them.”

Now that he’s back in the saddle, Hritz doesn’t see himself leaving the game again anytime soon. The five months he had off was more than enough for him.

“I’m probably considered like the Bill Bohren of girls basketball,” Hritz said. “I love it. They’ll probably find me (dead) on the floor someday. But that’s okay. That’s where I want to be.”