WAYNESBORO, Pa. — Tom Hoffman is staying busy these days as the director of human resources for the Waynesboro Area School District.
But his “part-time” job as head coach of the Waynesboro Indians varsity boys’ basketball team is a thing of the past. A good chunk of his life was devoted to his “second” choice – that’s right, Hoffman’s first sport was football.
And, after 26 years and plenty of soul searching during the last five or six years as to whether he wanted to come back for another season, Hoffman ended the speculation, both within himself and among others who wondered if he would focus on his other duties within the school district as well as on his family. The 2025-26 season was his last.
Coach Hoffman took the time to share his thoughts about his experience as the Tribe’s top hoops coach, which began in a new century. He was replaced by former player and current Waynesboro Area Senior High School assistant principal Derek Null, whose brother Tim Null played on the varsity team while Derek was in his early years of high school.
The questions and answers started from the present, as Derek Null is tasked with establishing his type of program.
Give your thoughts on Derek as a player and how you think he will fit in as head coach of the boys’ basketball program.
Derek was a good player for us during a time when two of his four seasons at WASHS were very challenging from a win/loss perspective. Most importantly, he was an exceptional leader during a time when player leadership was desperately needed. Derek always runs towards leadership opportunities, not away from them, and that has been a trait of his since I first met him.
It would have been very easy for Derek and his teammates to “give up” during those tough seasons. But they did not do that and continued to play with a sense of pride and purpose, modeling the values that the program had established. Derek was a huge part of maintaining the program’s standards when things could have gone off the rails, and I am forever grateful for that.
I love and appreciate those teams just as much as the teams who have had more on-court success. One thing I am certain of is that he will do a fantastic job as head coach. He will bring a perfect blend of honoring the past while bringing new thoughts and ideas to the program which is needed after 26 years of having the same thing. He is going to do great, and I can’t wait to follow him and Indian Basketball in the years to come!
It’s speculative, but did you have any thoughts on putting in as many years courtside as you did?
I never set out to coach for a certain amount of years. I was on one-year contracts, and at the end of each season I would see if the battery recharged, have an open and honest discussion with my wife regarding where coaching fit into our lives, pray about it and then make a decision. It just happened that I had 26 one-year contracts, and I loved every minute of it.
What motivated you to throw your name in the hat to become the head coach to replace Ken Brown, who replaced (I believe) your old head coach Tom Balistrere?
I actually replaced Tony Balistrere, who was the son of Tom and who had replaced Coach Ken Brown. Coach Brown had been my high school coach and replaced Tom Balistrere who left to take a job in the athletic department at Mount St. Mary’s. I was actually the ninth grade coach in Tony’s program for a few seasons (when we still had a ninth grade team). Tony resigned as coach the summer of 2000 as he took on a new position in the world of business and relocated his family to the Reading area. I was finishing up my teacher certification program and looking to get a teaching job. In summary, a teaching position as well as the coaching position opened up at the same time. Dan McLaughlin was the athletic director at the time and was familiar with me and my coaching style from my time as ninth grade coach. Dan, WASHS Principal Larry Bricker and the WASD School Board took a chance on me, and 26 years later here we are.
What was your approach to coaching? Offensively? Defensively?
In summary, offensively we wanted to play as fast as possible looking to push the ball up the floor at all times. It took a few years, but eventually we settled on a full-court pressing style defensively. Combining offense and defense, we were constantly looking to make our opponents uncomfortable. Off the floor my approach begins and ends with relationships. Culture is extremely important to me and ours was all about relationships and developing boys into men, helping to prepare them for careers, marriages, fatherhood, etc.
Did you have to make adjustments during your seasons based on the availability of big and tall players and capable small players (guards and forwards)?
Absolutely! We always looked to adjust our style of play and strategy to the personnel we had. We had a system but would always look to tweak it to maximize the potential of the players we had in any given year.
You mentioned that after each season that you would pray and reflect before making a decision to come back the next season. How did you arrive at your decision to step aside after the 2025-26 season? Was it an emotional moment for you?
It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make in my life. I had taken on a new role within the school district, and I gave it a year to see how it would go trying to do both. I was not able to do both jobs the way I wanted to and, therefore, it was simply time. The last few seasons it had become a little harder to “recharge the battery,” and so I really ended up with complete clarity regarding what I needed to do. That didn’t make it any easier to tell the team when that time came though, and that was a very emotional time for me. God always has a plan, and right now his plan for me does not include coaching, and I am at peace with that. That doesn’t necessarily mean I am done coaching forever. As I said, God always puts us where he wants us so who knows what my future holds.
What are some of your most memorable moments?
So many memorable moments: my first win, district games, league titles, making states, coaching my sons, etc. But honestly, it boils down to one thing and that is the relationships that were built. Sports and being part of a team and something bigger than yourself has a way of drawing people together unlike anything else in life. Indian basketball has basically become one big fraternity where a player from 2001, or even before that, could absolutely develop a connection with a player from 2026. That is pretty special and definitely the thing I am most proud of.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of my former players, managers, administrators, staff members, my family, as well as the entire Waynesboro community for their tremendous support over the past 26 years. A special shout-out to Coach Rich Davis, who was my right-hand man for so long and an integral part of our program and success. He is staying on staff and will continue to be a huge asset for Coach Null. My final and most important thank you goes to my wife Jenni, who is the greatest “assistant coach” I have ever had.
