Let's make a few things clear.

Rich Irr didn't exit the high school coaching ranks two years ago because he was burned out.

The man, affectionately known to his friends as "Bullsey," wasn't sick of the hours or the interaction with young people and especially not with the adrenaline rush of competition.

He obviously couldn't have been discouraged by his level of success either, having gone 107-18 (an .856 winning percentage) in four seasons as coach of the Oakland Catholic girls' team, playing in the WPIAL Class AAAA title game each year while winning the WPIAL title twice and the PIAA championship once.

Irr simply wanted to watch his son, Jason Jacobs, play in games for Moon Area High School the past two seasons, something that would have been difficult while he coached at a different school.

Now that Jacobs has graduated -- he plans on attending Penn State Beaver and ultimately playing at Penn State Behrend -- Irr had been eager to get back into coaching. He got his chance, having been named the new coach of the boys' team at Bishop Canevin last week, replacing Reggie Warford, who resigned.

"I missed competing, I missed teaching high school kids, and I just love basketball," Irr said. "The fire never went out in me. I just didn't want to miss my son's games the past two years, but the fire's been burning in me.

"Now that he's graduated, I was ready to get back into it. But I wasn't going to take just any job or pursue any job. I wanted it to be the right situation, and I think Canevin is the perfect fit."

Part of the reason for that is that the school's campus is in close proximity to Irr's Moon home (trips into town for Oakland Catholic practices required sojourns on the Parkway West down Green Tree hill and the Fort Pitt Tunnels).

Another reason coaching Bishop Canevin was attractive to Irr was because he was familiar with coaching at a Catholic institution in the area and had had a positive experience with the Diocese before. He also has roots and connections in Pittsburgh's south suburbs.

While much of his new coaching job will closely resemble his previous gig for the above reasons, there is one rather significant -- and obvious -- adjustment Irr will have to make. He goes from coaching a girls' team to a boys' team.

Irr isn't yet convinced his coaching philosophy will change all that much as a result.

"I can't tell you for sure, ask me at the end of the season," Irr said. "I am able to tell you that I think basketball is basketball and if you have passionate players who just love basketball ... If you have those ingredients, sure, there are differences with emotions and so forth, but these are still young human beings, and they want to be taught and they went to learn.

"It's no difference if it's a girl or a boy, when you're trying to teach a player how to take a screen or set a screen or get to the open spot on the floor, it doesn't matter."

Irr first was able to meet with many of the players on next season's Crusaders team last Thursday night during an open gym session.

"We strive for having our teams and young athletes experiencing success with honor, and Rich gives us the best chance for that," new Bishop Canevin athletic director Dan Bowman said.

"There were a lot of things about Rich that attracted us to him, but certainly the fact he had so much success at a Catholic school stood out to us."

Bishop Canevin slipped to 6-15 last season, snapping a run of four consecutive WPIAL playoff appearances. As recently as four seasons ago, the Crusaders were one of the WPIAL's top Class AA teams (they lost only three regular-season contests and appeared in the title game) but their victory total has declined each season since.

The immediate goal is to reverse that trend.

"We want to be as competitive as our potential is going to permit us to be," Irr said of goals for the coming season.

"From what I understand, there's some kids who will work hard and are eager to learn and want to win. We'll always try to win every game we play. We didn't make the playoffs last year; we'll strive for getting in the playoffs this year, and it's anybody's game from there.

"We'd like to become one of the top teams in Double-A. To always try to be in the hunt for section championships and try to make Canevin a school people want to attend, not just for basketball but because quality people want a quality education."