By Ken Hansard
On January 25th the Liberal High School Lady Bulldogs basketball team defeated Pierce City, at the same time winning the Tony Dubray Classic. However, the night was also notable for an amazing coaching milestone. The win over Pierce City marked the 300th career win for Liberal head coach BJ Goodell.
Goodell, who is in her 23rd season at the helm for Liberal, was BJ Couch until she married in 1999. She graduated in 1995 from Bronaugh High School, where she earned Second-Team All-State in basketball. She also played volleyball for four years, and she competed in track and field and set the school record for the two-mile with a time of 12:18 and for the one mile with a time of 5:35. She was a three-time state qualifier and placed 2nd, 2nd, and 5th in the two-mile and 3rd, 6th, and 8th in the mile. She would have played softball, but Bronaugh did not have a team at the time. She loved all sports, but her true passion was basketball.
After high school, Goodell went on to play basketball at Crowder College. The Roughriders made the national tournament in her freshman year. In the spring of freshman year, she acted as a manager for the softball team. The following year, she decided to let someone else manage for the softball team and she actually picked up her glove and played. Also that spring, she graduated with her associates degree in general studies.
While at Crowder BJ also met a baseball player from New Hampshire by the name of Jeremy Goodell, to whom she would later say the words “I do” in August of 1999.
Upon graduating from Crowder, BJ enrolled at Missouri Valley College, where she would eventually finish out her basketball playing career with the Vikings and graduate with her bachelor’s degree in education.
After completing undergraduate studies, BJ began her coaching career as a grad assistant for Missouri Valley College, a position she held for one year before moving on to her first teaching job at Slater High School, where she also served as the assistant girls’ basketball coach and head softball coach. After two years at Slater, she took a job as an assistant at Liberal, a role she served in for two years before moving over one seat to become the Lady Bulldogs’ head coach. She has now served in that position for the past 23 years. During that time, she has also served four years as head coach for the girls’ track and field team, and she is now in her 15th year at the helm of the softball team.
Goodell teaches middle school health, and 6th-12th grade PE. Along with over 300 wins, her teams have a 2023-24 Class 1 Final Four appearance, have been WEMO Co-Conference champions, WEMO Tri-Conference champions, and district champs. Her softball teams have won multiple conference championships, four district championships, and can boast a third-place finish at Class 1 State in 2018. Her four track teams had loads of success, including a fourth place finish at state in ’04, state runners-up in ’05, and a third place finish in ’07. This season, the basketball team finished 20-8 and were Tri-WEMO Conference champions.
Coach Goodell is much more than just her record. VYPE gathered several quotes, testimonials, and stories from players, family, friends and colleagues. Below is a sample of the information we gathered.
One could easily find many examples of Coach Goodell’s kind heart, but according to her husband and daughter, one of her proudest moments in coaching happened in the spring of 2019. One year before that in the spring of 2018, Liberal had placed third at state. In the fall of that same year, the starting catcher from that squad, Brooke Bearden, suffered a debilitating stroke. With a lot of hard work, Brooke fought back and eventually was able to walk and talk again. In the spring of 2019. On Liberal’s senior night, Coach Goodell arranged with the other coach for Brooke to catch the honorary first pitch from her best friend. She also got in the game to pinch run, eventually coming around to score. ESPN picked up the story and made it one of their Top 10 Plays of the Week. Jordan Goodell says, “On October 10th, ESPN came to Liberal and did a live broadcast. I was young at the time, but it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of.”
In a recent interview with VYPE, Jordan Goodell, senior guard for the Lady Bulldogs and daughter of Coach Goodell, was asked the question, “Who inspires you?” to which Goodell responded, “My mom has always been my biggest inspiration. She always knows what to say and when to say it. She has been coaching me since I was in Kindergarten Rec League, and she taught me everything I know. She also teaches sportsmanship, which I feel a lot of other coaches in the area greatly respect.”
2012 graduate Kori Dodson remarked, “Her belief in me as an athlete, even when I doubted myself, helped me grow as a player. She is a very influential person in my life, as I know she was for many other of her players.”
2024 graduate Ellaina LaNear had this to say, “What makes BJ such a special coach is her unwavering dedication, passion, and belief in her players. She pushed us to be our best, not just as athletes but as people, and she never let us settle for anything less than our full potential. Looking back, I realize how much she shaped me, not only as a player but as a leader and teammate. BJ’s impact goes far beyond wins and losses. She builds strong, confident athletes who carry her lessons with them long after they leave the court. I’m forever grateful to have been coached by her.”
Liberal Athletic Director Travis Walton added the following: “Everyone sees BJ coaching her athletes, but I don’t think people truly understand what she does behind the scenes for our school. She is constantly stepping up and helping without anyone asking. That’s just the type of person she is. We would be lost without her and have been extremely lucky to have her roaming our halls for the past 25 years. Having the success BJ has had at a small school, opportunities arise every year for her to jump to bigger and better opportunities, but she has chosen to stay in the Liberal community and schools to raise her family. The people of Liberal could never fully understand what a blessing it has been to have her here for so many years, and whenever her time comes to move on to her next chapter in life, I think this entire community would echo me in saying, ‘THANK YOU BJ!!’”
Coach Goodell and her husband Jeremy have two kids, Jordan and Jackson Goodell. Jordan is a senior who plans to attend Crowder College next fall to play softball, and Jackson is a freshman at Liberal.
