Those that follow all the forums are up on the odd on-goings of head coaching moves of the last couple of months, but the events of this off season could be considered too strange to be believed, if they hadn’t actually already happened.

The head coaching job of any of the major sports is one of the high profile positions on campus, because successes and failures happen in front of a crowd of community members, and appear in the area paper and on the web, for those who missed the event.

So it’s not unexpected when coaches who lose a lot are asked to leave town. Everyone is, or was, looking for the long time coach who wins because the program is sound, and he stays around, providing the stability that provides still more wins.

Who wouldn’t want to have the next Dewey Sullivan or Thurman Bell take their program to the playoffs most years, and send legions of student athletes to college, and success in life? Coaches used to leave for usually only one of three reasons. Retirement, poor performance, or an opportunity at a better program.

The changes that have happened of late break that mold.

(Updated with Regis reorganization announcement.)

Sisters Switches to a Favorite Son

At Sisters, Bob MaCauley has led the Outlaws to the last two Sky-Em Championships, and 4A state championship games. This recent success builds upon back to back titles in the 90’s. At the same time, MaCauley oversees a high school that is the envy of most districts. Yet the Sisters administration had concerns (for the lack of a better term) about that, and encouraged MaCauley to step down despite, a superb track record.

Fortunately, MaCauley had developed depth in the program, and so Dusty MaCauley has taken over as head coach, his first go as a head coach at any level. Dusty was the quarterback for those back to back undefeated championship teams in 1998 & 1999, and more recently has been the Outlaws’ offensive coordinator. The elder MaCauley remains as an assistant, as do all the other assistants, so the transition should be smooth.

Fisher returns to Pleasant Hill

In Cottage Grove, where the Lions have gone to the playoffs from the tough Sky-Em conference the last two years, and the best high school facility in the area exists, another first time head coach steps in. Gary Roberts, who has been a long time assistant under Marty Johnson at Sheldon, steps into the Lions’ top job for the coming season. The reason? Randy Fisher, who took Cottage Grove to those back to back playoff trips, left for Pleasant Hill.

Fisher took Pleasant Hill to the 3A Championship game in 2000 & 2001, but the Billies are coming off an 0-10 season, and are 10-27 over the last four years. Over that time frame, enrollment at Pleasant Hill has steadily declined, and is now the smallest of the Sky-Em schools. While Cottage Grove is the largest.

The Lions should also make a smooth transition, as Roberts is also a teacher at Cottage Grove, and had kept most of the staff intact, with all but two assistants planning to return.

Marist must replace not one, but two State Title winning coaches

Even stranger are the events unfolding at Marist. The Spartans have won three state football titles in five years, and this winter, accomplished one of the more difficult doubles, capturing the 4A boys’ basketball title as well. And the head coach of both programs, after seasons that couldn’t be more successful, left. That’s a sequence of events I can’t find having happened previously.

Football coach Rory Rosenbach moved “up”, taking the top position at Snohomish, WA, after three years as the Spartan top man. Basketball coach Chris Schmerbach also resigned after three years. This with the Spartans good bets to defend their titles, and looking at a possible step up in a couple of years to the 5A MidWestern League, which would provide the career “up move” younger coaches look for.

The Spartan football program continued its pattern of successfully finding replacements (Rosenbach was himself a replacement for Lance Lovitt, who led Marist to the first of those three titles, before leaving the successful Spartan program), signing Portland State assistant coach Franke Geske. Prior to spending the last three seasons with the Vikings, Geske, a 1978 graduate of Pacific University, was a high school coach for 26 years in the Portland area.

Geske’s background is in turning around programs, something Marist isn’t exactly looking for, as Rosenbach was 33-6 in three years, but given that rebuilding won’t be needed, the Spartans could be set for continued success. Geske went 57-49 at Franklin from 1985 thru 1995, which might not seem that significant unless you remember that the Quakers were a career doormat in the PIL. During his tenure, Geske led Franklin to their first ever playoff win, and is the winningest coach in Quaker history.

Next came a nine year stay at Tigard, where Geske was 72-29, with two Pac-9 Championships. Geske’s stay with the Tigers was capped with the 2004 State Championship, and he is also the winningest coach in Tigard history. The Tigers’ program had been 3-24 in the three seasons prior to Geske’s arrival.

It will be interesting to see if Marist can make a similar move with the Basketball coaching job.

Skip Raish to rebuild Springfield

The interesting coaching news isn’t limited to the 4A class either. Consider Springfield High School, one of the oldest programs in the state. The Millers have been to the state playoffs four times in history, and haven’t had a winning season since 1989. Springfield hasn’t won more than four games in a season since 1996, had five head coaches since the year 2000, and have lost to their cross-town rival Thurston seventeen straight years.

And yet Springfield could win the Midwetern League championship this fall. The reasons are nine returning all-league players, and the new man in charge. Skip Raish, who has taken the head coaching job, was the head coach at Willamette from 1981 through 2005. In those twenty five years, the Wolverines, won two Midwetern League championships (1991 and 1993), and would have had several more had it not been for two of the more dominant programs in the history of the state. Kent Wigle and Marshfield were undefeated in the Midwestern League for six years from 1994 thru 1999, and Marty Johnson’s Sheldon teams were unbeaten in the Midwewtern in 2001 thru 2005.

Raish’s Wolverines went to the playoffs eleven times in his twenty-five years, posting an overall record of 130-112 along the way. This with a program that had gone 1-17 in the two seasons prior to Raish’s first season in ’81. In the decade leading up to Raish’s arrival, the Wolverine’s went 0-9 four times, 1-8 three times. The Wolverines had never been to the postseason, and had an overall record of 85-181-8 through 1980.

Santiam Christian sees the end of an era

Up the road in Corvallis, Steve Woods has stepped down at Santiam Christian, after a seven year stay, which saw the Eagles go from not having a field (they played at Corvallis High when the Spartans weren’t), to a team with four straight playoff appearances, a 61-15 overall record, and an appearance in the 2006 3A State Championship game.

Woods sighted job demands as the technology director for a school that has doubled in size during his tenure, and time for his family as his reasons. Woods’ two daughters will both be in high school next year. Tayla will be a junior next year, while Darci will be a freshman. Both are heavily involved in sports, and Woods has had to miss some of Tayla’s games the past two years, including the state volleyball tournament. “I am looking forward to finding ways to spend time with the girls and to participate in their sports,” Woods said.

Dallas Lures Masei from North Bend

Karl Elliott wan’t planning a long term career when he came out of retirement, first as an assistant, and then to coach the Dragons last year, but back to back playoff teams made the once powerful Dallas program that had fallen on hard times attractive again. The Brown Bulldogs enjoyed their best run in history under Bill Masei, and a wild 50-46 loss to Sisters in this year’s quarterfinals capped North Bend’s sixth straight trip to the playoffs.

Masei and the Dragons face the challenges of Corvallis and West Albany, winners of the first two 5A state championships, just to get to the top of the Mid-Willamette League.

Kyle Fessler replaces Doug Ierardi at Regis

For the third consecutive year, perennial playoff contender Regis has changed head coaches. Assistant coach Kyle Fessler, a 2003 graduate of Regis, will take over as head coach, as Doug Ierardi, also the principal at Regis steps out of the head coach role for the second time in three years.

After the 2005 season, Ierardi stepped out of his coaching duties to concentrate on his responsibilities as principal. After Ron Suelze led the Rams to the semifinals in 2006, Ieardi returned to the head coaching position, and directed Regis to the 3A quarterfinals before losing to eventual state champion Gold Beach.

Ierardi stepped down from the head coaching role again at the request of the archdiocese, who again wants Ierardi to have more time to be the school’s principal. This time, however, Ierardi will remain on the Regis staff, as the Rams’ offensive coordinator.

Fessler explained “It doesn’t feel a whole lot different, because Doug is still going to be helping out with the program. The last few years, it’s been like we have all worked as a team coaching staff anyway, and I think it will continue to be that way.”

CC