Football season started a little more than three weeks ago, even if the first official day of practice is not until August.
The best teams. The average teams. The struggling teams. They all got an opportunity to get on the field on June 1, the first day of school after the completion of spring sports.
For a few programs in Southwest Washington, these weeks have been first impressions for new coaches and their high schools.
There are three new head coaches in the 4A and 3A Greater St. Helens Leagues.
Matt Gracey is the newcomer to Clark County, moving from Arizona to take over at Heritage. Terry Hyde resigned at Prairie to become the head coach at Evergreen. And Kevin Baker, who long ago was the head coach at Battle Ground, took over for Hyde at Prairie.
“It’s fun. It shows you why you want to be out here,” said Gracey, who took a couple years off of coaching before returning to the Northwest. He had been a coach in Port Angeles before moving to California and then Arizona. “I just missed this. I missed being around the kids. Taking a step back gives us the perspective we didn’t have before. That’s important.”
He acknowledged that perhaps he took the game too seriously, forgetting it was just a game. Now, he wants to enjoy this experience and make sure his players enjoy their experience.
“We’re just trying to get better. No one’s expecting a state title in the first year,” Gracey said. “Just looking for a solid football program.”
Baker was the head coach at Battle Ground from 1996-2002.
“Once it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. It’s just who I am,” Baker said. “Even when I wasn’t a head coach, I was coaching.”
In fact, he has been an assistant at Prairie in recent years.
“I’ve worked with these kids. I like these kids,” Baker said.
He said he has softened a bit since he was last in charge of a program. He grew up under an old-school football mentality. Hard-nosed is not necessarily the best thing for today’s athletes, he said.
“I want to create a football family at the high school,” Baker said. “My goal is to create a team, kids who will play for each other.”
Hyde’s move to Evergreen is a homecoming of sorts. He was an assistant there for a dozen years, including when the Plainsmen won the Class 4A state championship in 2004. He lives in the neighborhood.
“I love it. It’s good to be back home. We want to reinstall all of the values we set so many years ago,” Hyde said.
He loves June drills.
“There’s so much energy,” he said.
This is a chance for Hyde to set the tone for August practice and then the season.
“That’s what our focus is right now, to make the game fun again for the kids,” Hyde said.
Note: The Columbian plans to have stories later this summer on the new football coaches at Hudson’s Bay and Seton Catholic.
