By Jackson Smith & Gabriel Elmosleh
Web Editor & Co-Editor-in-Chief

Josh Rhoden, award-winning associate head coach for Oregon State University’s wrestling team, and former wrestling coach for Clackamas Community College, has stepped down from OSU after four years.

Rhoden’s resignation comes after OSU’s wrestling team won its third Pac-12 wrestling championship in three years. Before then, he coached at CCC for 16 years, and in that time he led his team to the NJCAA National Championship five times. He was also named NCJAA National Coach of the Year four times in a row.

Rhoden accepting NJCAA National Coach of the Year award. All photos provided from @rhoddog on Instagram

There comes a heavy burden when leaving a program behind, tough decisions have to be made in the interest of both the team and the coaches. That rings true for Rhoden. 

“The hardest part about leaving Clackamas or Oregon State is always the athletes who I feel have been my mission in the past 20 years. Trying to mentor them, help them with academics, and teach them not only to be good wrestlers, but great young men,” said Rhoden.

When Rhoden moved on in 2019, he left the team in the hands of his former wrestler turned assistant coach, Brett Sanchez.

Since taking over, Sanchez has won three consecutive Coach of the Year titles in his division, and finished top five three times in the NJCAA.

While it’s only been a short time since Rhoden’s absence, he can acknowledge the work Sanchez has put into the program.

“His West Region Coach of the Year awards are great, but more of an indication of the direction and quality of the program. I think of it more as a nod to his ability to continue to recruit, develop, and grow as a program,” said Rhoden.

Rhoden had a lot of highs with CCC, though that doesn’t mean his time at the college came without any lows.

Rhoden walking off the mats with Victor Jacinto.

“Honestly I failed a lot, but I think those failures allowed me to learn and grow as a coach, mentor and a man,” said Rhoden. “I’m sure I could’ve done things better, but the learning that occurred as a result of the failure was too valuable to change.”

While he had left CCC as head coach for OSU, Rhoden continued teaching some online courses in the health and PE departments at the college, never really leaving the Cougars. 

Coaching at Oregon State has always been a dream for Rhoden. However, he quickly found that there were distinct challenges that came with coaching in Corvallis.

“The landscape of the Pac-12 came pretty dramatically with the exit of most of the member schools. Obviously, that changes the funding model entirely,” said Rhoden.

Constant changes in leadership was also a challenge Rhoden had to deal with.

Rhoden cheering on his player.

“I think, you know, there’s been some leadership changes (…) their associate AD (athletic director) and their head AD are going to change positions this year,” said Rhoden. “We had four different sports supervisors over my four years there. And so, yeah, leadership, you know, is obviously important for direction. And then obviously in helping guide our program and the resources that we need to be successful.”

In order to make sure that his daughter could attend high school without having her life uprooted from a sudden move, Rhoden never permanently moved to Corvallis, and instead commuted from Oregon City. 

“I commuted actually for the four years there. Six days a week, pretty much,” said Rhoden. “Which, I mean, I didn’t find problematic other than if I was going to make that big of a sacrifice that, you know, I wanted to feel like everyone else was in on the sacrifice as well, trying to be successful and based in our goals, and I think that there could have been a little better communication and vision from our head coach there. And so we just agreed to part ways.”

Rhoden talked a bit about his relationship with OSU head coach Chris Pendleton, and some of the challenges he faced taking on the role of assistant coach.

“Coach Pendleton and I left in good terms. It was hard for me to be an assistant coach and not have the ability to chart a course for the program that I felt I needed to see out,” said Rhoden. “In the end, the frustration from that resulted in me wanting to step away.”