A winner wherever he's been, Randy Affholter going into Washington high school football coaches' hall of fame

Current Kennewick coach will join ex-Tahoma coach Tony Davis and ex-North Thurston coach Rocky Patchin in class of 2025 induction

With 223 career wins at Toppenish, Ellensburg and Kennewick, Randy Affholter is part of Washington State Football Coaches Association's hall of fame class for 2025. / Photo by Todd Milles

Randy Affholter knew he had been nominated for the Washington State Football Coaches Association (WSFCA) hall of fame class of 2025, but figured he would not make the cut this soon because he had "not won the big one" yet.

Turns out, consistency, longevity - and yes, winning - was enough to get him the nod.

Along with retired coaches Tony Davis (Renton, Tahoma) and Rocky Patchin (North Thurston), Affholter (Toppenish, Ellensburg, Kennewick) will go into the WSFCA hall of fame May 18 at the VMAC - the Seattle Seahawks' practice facility in Renton.

"It's an honor to be in there," Affholter said.

He's just thankful somebody gave him a chance to be on the sideline.

After playing for Mike Levens at Walla Wallas Community College in the mid-1980s, by the time he applied for an assistant-coaching position there in 1988.

His level of coching experience? He had coached seventh-grade football at Morgan Middle School in Ellensburg while attending Central Washington University and being married to now longtime-wife, Tara.

"I knew Mike and Steve Kizer (who just retired from Skyview), and luckily they took a shot on me," Affholter said.

He spent four seasons as a defensive assistant in the NWAC (formerly the NWAACC) before the family opted for careers in public education at the high-school level.

After two seasons as an assistant as East Valley of Yakima, Affholter landed the head job at his alma mater - Toppenish High School - in 1994.

After three seasons, Affholter took the head-coaching position at Ellensburg High School where he stayed 22 season, reaching the playoffs 11 times - with seven 2A CWAC titles.

In 2018, he left to coach a bigger school - Kennewick High School - where he has compiled four seasons of 10 or more wins, totaling a 63-16 record. And he led the Lions to the WIAA Class 3A championship game in 2021, losing to Bellevue.

In all, Affholter has won 223 games at the three stops.

"My dad was a coach for a long time, and he said, 'Do things your way,'" Affholter said. "He said, 'If the ship sails, it sails you way. If the ship sinks, it sinks your way.'

"At each place, I have been able to speed up the process of building (a winner) by learning from my past failures."

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