Nicole Rincker – “It can be a little stressful”

Cody Rincker and Nicole Goeckner played basketball against each other in junior high.

Cody played for Stew-Stras and Nicole was on the boys team at St. Anthony.

It would have been impossible for them to know that several years down the road they would be married with three sons and that Cody would be coaching at her high school alma mater.

But that’s exactly what happened.

The two actually met through common friends and started dating as high school seniors. They continued dating in college, with Nicole heading to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, while Cody started at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield and ended at SIU-E, where they both graduated.

They were married in 2012.

“I had accepted the fact I was going to be a coach’s wife,” Nicole admitted. “But I wanted to move home. We reached a decision together that he wouldn’t be a college coach. With scouting and recruiting, he would have been gone all the time. Coaching in high school is much more family-friendly.”

After two years at St. Elmo Junior High, Cody was hired as the head coach at St. Anthony. At 24 years old, many thought he was two young. Others were concerned because he had no varsity coaching experience. Regardless, he arrived in the fall of 2013 and inherited a program that desperately needed fixed.

 “When he first became a head coach, I was worried,” Nicole said. “I had heard all the horror stories about how parents and fans can be. But we haven’t had that here. We were accepted very well. There haven’t been a lot of surprises and the people at St. Anthony have been great to us.”

There are family ties to SAHS. Cody’s mother taught and coached volleyball there. And on his very first squad, one of the players was Nicole’s brother, John Goeckner.

He quickly laid the hiring concerns to rest. His first squad went 22-11 and won a regional championship. In his seven years, the Bulldogs have accumulated an impressive 168-57 record, a 75 percent winning clip. His teams have won five regional titles, plus put together an unforgettable run in 2017, winning the sectional and super sectional, and then capturing the Class 1A state tournament championship.

This year’s squad finished 29-4, losing to Central A&M in the sectional final.

“Cody is incredibly hard-working,” Nicole noted. “He’s a perfectionist and he’s extremely competitive, plus he’s loyal and also fun-loving. He did a great job turning this program around.”

The Rinckers have three sons – Grant (5), James (3) and Logan (1). And even though current players Grant Nuxoll, James Schuette and Logan Antrim believe those boys were named after them, Nicole said that was not the case.

Like in most coach’s households, juggling careers and family time is a challenge. Not only is Cody a head basketball coach, with the all the responsibilities that go along with that position, Nicole is a pharmacist with Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Systems in Mattoon.

“I have to work some nights and every third weekend,” Nicole explained. “Once in a while, we go six nights in a row with only one of us at home. That can be a little stressful.

“But Cody is a super-involved dad,” she added. “On nights when I’m gone, he gets their dinner, gives them a bath, the whole nine yards. He does a great job with the boys. He gives them his undivided attention before their bedtime.”

Now with three children, making all the games is a challenge at times, too.

“We made it to fewer games this year,” Nicole admitted. “Grant has school on Wednesday, so we missed some Tuesday games. Plus, Logan doesn’t like long car rides, so we missed a couple due to that. But I don’t like missing very many because we miss too much of Cody’s life.”

Cody and Nicole are fortunate to have quite a bit of family around and they help a great deal.

“Our parents and siblings are huge in helping, not only with games, but also watching the boys when I have to work and Cody has a game or practice,” Nicole said. “I honestly don’t know how we would make it work without them.”

And going to the games is becoming memorable.

“Cody always looks for us after the National Anthem and waves at us,” Nicole noted. “Then James likes to yell ‘Hi Daddy.’ He’s starting to learn about basketball, but his attention span isn’t the greatest.”

And Grant is becoming quite the fan. But he doesn’t like it when the Bulldogs lose.

“At the A&M game, there was about 30 seconds to play. He looked up and ‘I think we can still do it mommy,’” Nicole said. “But when we lost, he cried some big tears.”

Both the boys got a real treat this season.

“We’re true Bulldogs fans and we get kind of loud,” Nicole explained. “This is the first year I let the boys scream when the other team shot a free throw.”

She doesn’t like it when the fans yell at the players, however.

“I have trouble when they target the kids,” Nicole admitted. “These boys are great kids. They’re 17 and 18. They’re going to miss some shots and make some mistakes. They haven’t been too harsh on Cody, but if they are, that’s his job.”

Nicole said one of her important roles was keeping things normal when Cody gets home.

“I want to make sure he has the best quality time possible with me and the boys,” she noted. “Cody is very good about checking his emotions at the door. And if he has film to watch or games to prepare for, he doesn’t do that until the boys are in bed.

“We also discuss the games a lot,” Nicole added. “After wins, he’s normally excited about how the boys played. After a loss, he generally puts more of it on himself, wondering if he was prepared enough or if he should have done something else. One of the biggest arguments we’ve ever had in our marriage was about rebounding.”

There is so much coaches have to do “and much of it is behind the scenes stuff,” Nicole explained. “All the time spent watching film or scouting other teams or planning for games and practices. All these things are important for it to work and the program to be successful.”

She also said Cody “can be very silly. He may let his players see that a little, but never the parents. He can be quite goofy.

“And he’s the most accident-prone athletic guy you’ll ever meet,” Nicole added with a laugh. “I’m always saying ‘don’t injure yourself’ or ‘be careful’ and it’s warranted. You just can’t believe the things he can do to himself.”

But the level of care for the school, the community and his players is extremely high.

“There is such a neat dynamic for him as a grade school teacher,” Nicole said. “He gets to know these kids at an early age and then watch them and coach them all through high school.

“He loves to see them develop as basketball players, but more importantly, as young men. These kids become like family. He embraces St. Anthony as his home and it’s where our kids will go. He definitely wants to see this school and these kids be successful.”