Meet the new WIAA Class 3A football coaches: Marysville-Pilchuck taps first-time head coach with local ties

Two former college defensive backs are among the many new faces set to lead the way on the Washington high school sidelines in the fall

Dalton Schwetz had been planning the move meticulously.

During coaching stints at his alma mater Pacific University in Oregon and three years at Coconino High School in Flagstaff, Ariz., Schwetz knew he eventually wanted to move closer to his hometown of Burlington, Wash. to coach.

It needed to be the right opportunity.

Why not one of the state’s most highly-coveted head coaching vacancies?

Fresh off of a 3A state semifinal run, Marysville-Pilchuck hired Schwetz, 27, to his first head coaching position. He replaces Brandon Carson, who stepped down after the season and went 106-52 over 15 years.

“I wasn’t going to just get home for the sake of going home and not be somewhere where I knew I could have an impact and be for a really long time,” Schwetz said.

Schwetz played at Burlington-Edison under coach Bruce Shearer and was an all-Northwest Conference quarterback under Herb Lehman, who took over the program his senior year in 2013.

Schwetz addresses the Coconino High School (Ariz.) football team, where he coached and taught for three years / Photo courtesy of Dalton Schwetz

His introduction to Carson came with a cold email. 

A few years ago, Schwetz reached out to several programs he respected in the area to learn more about the way they ran things. One of those programs was Marysville-Pilchuck. Shwetz ended up sitting down with Carson, traded notes and talked football.

The two have kept in loose contact in the years since. After the fall 2021 season, Carson reached out with the news that he was stepping down, and nudged Schwetz to apply.

Schwetz has met virtually with players and is actively assembling his coaching staff. He’ll move up in May from Flagstaff, where he coached football for three years as a defensive coordinator, assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and even stepped in as the interim baseball coach.

He kept tabs from afar as Marysville-Pilchuck steamrolled its way to a 3A Wesco title and state semifinal appearance in the fall, before losing to eventual 3A champion Bellevue. He watched the team's two 1,000-yard rushers, including Air Force-bound running back Dylan Carson's eighth-best rushing season in state history (2,671 yards and 46 touchdowns).

After he was hired Dylan Carson, Brandon Carson's son, even sent Schwetz a congratulatory text out of the blue.

It’s too early to say if Marysville-Pilchuck’s vaunted slot-T offense, behind which it went 27-6 over the last three full seasons, will stay, Schwetz said.

(Meet the new WIAA Class 4A football coaching hires: Lobbestael to Lobbestael handoff nets touchdown at Sunnyside)

But he will stay true to his defensive roots (he played safety at Pacific).

The team will practice tackling every day, as well as ball disruption geared toward forcing turnovers. 

Schwetz hopes that defensive grit carries over to offense.

“Coach Carson did a tremendous job with the program, won a whole lot of football games and they had a bunch of success,” Schwetz said. “Some of the stuff will carry over and people will see that on Friday nights, but there definitely will be some new things defensively.”

Here is a roundup of the rest of the 3A hires (in alphabetical order): 

WILL EPHRAIM, Prairie

A defensive back at Oregon State in the early 90s, Ephraim brings experience both as a head coach and competing in the 3A Greater St. Helens League. Ephraim was the defensive coordinator at Heritage and before that was the head coach at Seton Catholic (1A) from 2015-18. He takes over for Mike Peck, who led the Falcons to a state playoff appearance in 2019 and the school’s best season in nearly 30 years. Peck stepped down after four seasons. Prairie went 6-4 last season.

LEN HICKS, Cleveland

Previously a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Bishop Blanchet, Hicks was hired to replace Charles McFarland Jr., who stepped down after two seasons, in which Cleveland went 1-8. Hicks is a first time head coach at the high school level and has coached track at Mercer Middle School, a Cleveland feeder. "He's a southend guy," Cleveland athletic director Jon Hughes said, "he knows our kids."

PAT JOHNSON, Stadium

Johnson, 40, replaces Josh Bellinger, who stepped down after three seasons. Johnson was the head coach at Foss for three seasons (2013-15) and most recently the defensive line coach at Division III Trinity U in Texas. He will be going back and forth between San Antonio and Washington until July because of his service in the National Guard and his daughter, who is in high school, will enroll at Stadium. His imprint on the program will include an emphasis on routine and a focus on coaching the whole person, not just the player.

"For me, it's about bringing some structure and discipline to the environment," Johnson said. "Having a plan minute-by-minute to what practice looks like, making sure we're wearing the same practice uniform — building a program kids look at and know there's a way we're going to do business and making sure they know the winning and losing will take care of itself if we do these things and start developing these young people as people."

DJAY MIMS, Mercer Island

After experiencing immediate success in his one year at Life Christian, Mims, 29, is headed to the 3A KingCo. He led Life Christian Academy to its first league title in school history in 2020 and was named coach of the year in the 1A Nisqually League after stints at Foss (offensive coordinator) and Franklin-Pierce (passing game coordinator, receivers coach), where he graduated in 2011 before playing receiver for Division II Malone in Ohio. Mims said he was attracted to the program for its already-solid foundation at a school with standout athletic programs like lacrosse and swim, he wants to bring “swagger and energy” and vault football back on top.

DARRIN REEVES, Gig Harbor

The Tides filled a heigh-interest vacancy by promoting from within. Reeves served as the defensive coordinator for the last four seasons and replaces George Fairhart, who went 26-18 over five seasons. Gig Harbor went 6-4 in 2021 and finished fourth in the 3A South Sound Conference, allowing a league-low 16.2 points allowed per game. Reeves got his coaching start in Oklahoma and moved to Washington to coach at Stadium in 2016.

KENT RODSETH, Auburn Mountainview

The Lions promoted Kent Rodseth, a 10-year defensive coordinator, to replace Jared Gervais, who stepped down after 11 years. Rodseth, 60, said the school’s support of athletics was a leading reason why he went for the job and expects the Lions to be more defensive-minded, run-heavy behind offensive and defensive lines he thinks will be “as good as any year I’ve been here.” Many of his first steps are familiar. In the past, he has run the team’s strength and conditioning program. He was the head coach at Decatur in the 90s and has previous coaching experience at Bishop Kelly (Ida.), University of Puget Sound and Auburn.

CHASE SMITH, Heritage

In hiring its eighth head coach since the school doors opened in 1999, Heritage chose a candidate with some institutional knowledge. Smith has been a coordinator since 2015 and has served under the previous two head coaches, Matt Gracey and, most recently, Dennis Moody. The Timberwolves went 2-7 (1-5 3A Greater St. Helens League) last fall and are searching for their first winning season since 2008.

JAMES STIPPICH, North Thurston

North Thurston hasn’t won a game in two seasons and tapped Stippich to steer the program in a winning direction. He replaces Terry Shaw, who went 3-22 in three seasons. Stippich, an Olympia grad, teaches in-building and previous served on the staff at Washington High School.

KEITH TERRY, Mount Tahoma

Terry has sharp memories of Mount Tahoma his senior season when the T-Birds held opponent scoring under 90 points on the season and no opposing rusher went for more than 100 yards. now the 13-year assistant coach wants to bring a defensive-led mentality to his alma mater, where he graduated in 2006 before playing for Feather River College (Calif.). Terry's first head coaching job comes after a three-year stint at Decatur under previous MT coach Leon Hatch and six years at Auburn Riverside, where he was the run game coordinator for four seasons and defensive coordinator for two. 

"It wasn't an expected move, but it was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up," Terry said. "The athletes are definitely in Tacoma. I just want to make sure and give those kids an opportunity to be successful and play at the next level."

AARON WOODS, North Central

A one-time coordinator is returning to take the reins of a program that has not had a winning season in more than 18 years. Woods spent the last two seasons coaching the secondary at Lewis and Clark and was in the same capacity at NC in 2018-19. He was hired in early March to replace Sean Garvey, who stepped down after four seasons. Woods, now a resource officer in-building at NC, played corner at Eastern Washington in the mid-90s and was a college teammate of former Washington coach Jimmy Lake. Some 25 players suited up for varsity by season’s end in the fall, according to Woods, and he’s encouraged by the 70-plus players who have indicated they’ll come out this spring.

"The biggest thing with this transition is with numbers," Woods said, "we've had an increase in kids wanting to play football." 

Still vacant

INGRAHAM HIGH SCHOOL

Head coach Garrett Cook stepped down after the 2021-22 season, in which the Rams went 6-4. The school is in the process of hiring his replacement.

Know of a coaching vacancy or an update? Drop a reply in the comment or email the reporter at andy@scorebooklive.com.

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All photos courtesy of Dalton Schwetz