Aaron Shepherd is thrilled and sad at the same time.
That is how these things go when a coach is hired for a dream job but must say goodbye to a wonderful job, as well.
Shepherd, who this winter led the Woodland boys basketball team to its first appearance in the district tournament since 2005, resigned earlier this week in order to take the job at Mountain View.
“I know what kind of program Mountain View basketball has been, and I’ve always wanted to coach at a bigger school,” Shepherd said. “It’s a perfect fit for me. If I didn’t take it, friends and family said I would regret it.”
Still, it was difficult to say goodbye to the Beavers.
“I had great kids at Woodland,” Shepherd said.
Mountain View’s coaching vacancy came about after Nate DuChesne resigned to take an administrative job at Mariner High School in Everett. DuChesne went 49-28 in three seasons at Mountain View, reaching the Class 3A regionals in 2012.
Shepherd has been a high school coach for 13 years, seven as a head coach. Prior to coming to Woodland, he was the head coach at Echo High School in Eastern Oregon.
“Everyone we talked to was very impressed with his demeanor and the way he interacted with his kids,” said Adam Mathieson, Mountain View’s athletic director. “He wants to teach the game of basketball and he wants to develop the kids on the floor and off the floor. We are very happy to have someone of his caliber to be joining Mountain View basketball.”
It was a whirlwind of activity for Shepherd and the two basketball programs in the past week.
On Saturday, Shepherd was coaching the Woodland team in summer league. On Sunday, he got a call from Mathieson offering him the job. On Monday morning, he had an impromptu meeting with Woodland players to break the news, then he had a quick practice later that day with Mountain View players. He coached the Thunder on Tuesday in summer league.
