Eric Behrens, the highly successful boys basketball coach at Omaha Central, will coach his last game as head of the Eagles in March.

In the fall, Behrens will be patrolling the sidelines differently as athletic director of Westview High School in northwest Omaha, one of the two new high schools Omaha Public Schools is opening in 2022-23.

Behrens has compiled a 380-79 record and dominated Class A basketball for almost a decade ranks among the top coaches in state history and was in charge of one of the most impressive championship runs ever. His teams featured some of the top talent ever to play in the state and some competed favorably against national competition. 

Behrens grew up around the Central program, playing for his father, Rick, and graduating from the school in 1992. In 2001, Behrens took over as head coach.

In his first four seasons, he led the Eagles to state tournament berths. Year five, (2005-06) started a run of seven titles in eight seasons. Behrens led the Eagles to their first state championship since 1975 in 2006. Two more titles came in 2007 and 2008. An unheard of four straight Class A titles came from 2009 through 2013. 

In 2014, Behrens left Central to coach collegiately at Peru State College. After three years at Peru, Behrens returned to Central to coach the Eagles for the 2017-18 season. In 2019, he led Central back to a state championship game before falling to Omaha South, 58-56. 

In his time at Central, Behrens coached 15 players who went on to play basketball at the Division I level and many others who went on to smaller colleges.