Harris leaves Chardon for Mayfield post

There was only one school district — one job — that could have enticed Cullen Harris to leave Chardon. That job became available.

Harris has been board-approved as the new head girls basketball coach at Mayfield, ending his seven-year run as the head coach at Chardon.

Harris takes over the position left vacant when former coach Ryan Looman departed Mayfield to take an assistant principal’s job at Twinsburg.

Aligning his teaching career as an intervention specialist at Mayfield Middle School with his coaching was the only way Harris said he’d leave Chardon. That’s what happened. “There was one place I would have left Chardon for, and that’s Mayfield,” he said of his coaching profession. “Leaving Chardon isn’t something I WANTED or was looking to do. But at Chardon, I was never home before 7:30 at night. I missed dinners with my family, my wife, kids. Now I’m that much closer to home.”

Not only does Harris teach — and now coach — in the Mayfield district, but his wife Ashley teaches second grade at Millridge Elementary The couple has three children.

Harris, 34, spent the last seven years building the Chardon program, accumulating a 107-62 record over that time. He leaves behind a stellar group of returners, including multi-talented Emily Noerr.

Needless to say, it wasn’t easy telling the Chardon players that he was leaving — and leaving for an in-league rival.

“A lot of them put two and two together,” Harris said. “Some were shocked, but a lot saw Coach Looman was leaving, knew I taught there and said, ‘Oh, he’s probably going to take that job.’

“It was a decision I went back and forth on. Family comes first, though, and it’ll be nice to teach in the district and not have all the travel time before and after practice.”

In Mayfield, he inherits a program that returns two-time captain Hannah Peterson, leading scorer Uriah Jennings, point guard Alex Duncan and more. Having coached against Mayfield in previous seasons, Harris has some knowledge of the players’ skill sets, but is looking forward to learning and developing more.

“Coach Looman did a great job the last six years there,” Harris said. “They play hard, and they’re coachable. I knew some of the kids. That makes the transition easier.”

At Chardon, Harris fostered a program with the persona of hard-nosed, tenacious defense and creating turnovers. That was the foundation of the program’s success. Harris said he hopes the same type of trademark defense is played at Mayfield.

“It’ll be fun to see — is that the type of mentality Chardon kids have or is it something we cultivated?” Harris pondered. “Coach Looman did a lot of great things, and we’ll continue to do a lot of those things. I like to focus on defense. I know we have good, long athletes. I want to bring some of that hardnosed Mentality we had at Chardon.”

Harris is excited to get started with his new team. He’s already taken a look at the upcoming schedule, where two dates stick out. Mayfield host Chardon on Jan. 12, then takes his Wildcats to Chardon on Feb. 9.

“I have a lot of memories there,” Harris said of Chardon. “Twenty percent of my life was as head coach at Chardon. That makes me pretty emotional. But once the ball is tipped, it’s basketball — and I hope it’s the Wildcats who come out on the good end.”

“I have a lot of memories there. Twenty percent of my life was as head coach at Chardon. That makes me pretty emotional. But once the ball is tipped, it’s basketball — and I hope it’s the Wildcats who come out on the good end.” Cullen Harris, after stepping down at Chardon to become head girls basketball coach at Mayfield

Harris