The Mountain View football program went back to its recent past, took in a little bit of its present, and is looking to the future with a very familiar name.
The new coach: same as the old coach.
Adam Mathieson, who resigned as the head coach after this past season, is back as the head coach.
Hey, it’s almost as if he were never gone.
“We’re just elated. We think so highly of Adam,” said Mike Meloy, Mountain View’s principal. “The thought of trying to replace him was daunting. This is the best news I could have. Adam is going to continue to be the Thunder head coach. It’s just all good.”
Mathieson, as the school’s athletic director, was working with Meloy as they were going through candidates to take over the program.
Through that process, Meloy came to a simple conclusion: “Adam Mathieson was still the right guy for the coaching position.”
Mathieson, 36, resigned for a number of reasons, including the chance to spend more time with his family and also to take a break after a couple of health scares.
“I had to get away. My body had shut down,” Mathieson said.
Since his resignation, he said he has lost 17 pounds. He got his health and fitness back the past 10 weeks, and he was feeling refreshed.
After Meloy suggested that Mathieson take back the job, Mathieson checked with his wife Jenny. With her support, he said yes. He informed the football players Friday morning.
Yet, there will be changes — changes that make Mathieson a little nervous.
In the past, he said he was spending too much time on football. Not enough on family. It was the only way, he figured, he could be a good coach. It is all he had known for his 13 years of coaching.
“There just needs to be a greater balance,” Mathieson said. “I’m going to work hard in the offseason to delegate more and empower those (assistant) coaches and kids to do more. I’m going to try it from a different angle.
“We all agree that’s the right philosophy. It comes back to me to do it the right way.”
Love. Prepare. Compete. Those are the team’s covenants that Mathieson brought with him to Mountain View.
In 2011, Meloy told The Columbian the team’s philosophy is now utilized throughout the campus, in all walks of life at the school. Meloy wanted the man behind that campaign to remain the coach.
