MARYSVILLE — A freak injury transformed Marysville Getchell senior Taylor Koellmer from a player to a coach.
Now, he’s thrilled to have switched back.
Koellmer, who broke a bone in his foot during the summer, served as an assistant coach with the Chargers’ football team this past fall. He was set to continue in a similar capacity for basketball, but was cleared by doctors earlier than expected and has helped Marysville Getchell (7-8) match the program record for wins in a season with five games remaining in the regular season.
“It’s different now because I have perspective from a coach’s view (after) watching a whole season of football,” Koellmer said. “But being a player again, I can almost coach myself as well and see what they see and try to fix it.
“It’s just so much better being on the court, though.”
Corby Schuh, the boys basketball coach at Marysville Getchell, said Koellmer has such a high basketball IQ that even as a player, he helps coach his teammates on the court.
“He’s a kid you have to have in at the end of the game,” Schuh said. “He can hit free throws, he’s really smart — it’s like having a second coach on the floor. … He’s a leader. When we talk about strategy and game plan, he gets it. He’s able to help explain it to other players on the court.”
Koellmer’s athletic future was in doubt after a fadeaway 3-pointer at a summer practice in early July.
“Right away when I landed I heard a huge ‘pop’ and I was like, ‘Whoa! I think I just broke a bone!’” Koellmer said. “I’d never broken a bone before. I broke my fifth metatarsal on my right foot. I was just shooting, landed on it, snapped in half, that was it. Just crazy, random. … The first two weeks I was still shocked. I couldn’t even believe it at first. No football? Eventually, the doctor said January was the return time.”
That prognosis put both his football and basketball seasons in doubt. Schuh said he felt for Koellmer, who had started at quarterback for the Charges since his sophomore year.
“He was super bummed when it happened in the summer,” Schuh said. “Right when it happened, he didn’t know exactly what (the injury) was. He went to the doctor and found out he was going to be out for three, four, five, potentially six months. He’s looking at it going, ‘Aw man! I might be out for football and basketball!’ It was a big shock. I felt so bad for the kid.
“But I know he did a great job during football just being a student/coach, up in the box and doing some things.”
Koellmer made the best of the situation. He got a scooter for his leg and was visible at Marysville Getchell football practices while holding out hope he could return in January for the Chargers’ final 10 basketball games. He helped coach the MG quarterbacks, including his backup — and younger brother — freshman Caleb Koellmer.
“It was actually a really good experience. He knew a lot,” said Caleb Koellmer, who’s also a guard on the Marysville Getchell basketball team. “(Chargers football coach Davis Lura) said he knew the playbook second-best to him. That was really helpful.”
In coaching his younger brother, Taylor Koellmer wore two different hats.
“Sometimes he plays the role of the bigger brother and other times he plays the role of the coach,” Caleb said. “I kind of get a bit of both. I like when he’s the coach more.”
Coach Taylor Koellmer got a pleasant surprise when he went to the doctor in October and was told he could finally make the switch back to player.
“For a few months, I was thinking I wouldn’t be ready for tryouts. I went to the doctor one day and he told me I was 100 percent cleared,” Koellmer said. “I was like, ‘What? Really?!’
“Being an assistant coach for football and being out there everyday was great, but also being out there everyday and not getting to play kind of sucked. But I liked being there the whole time.”
Koellmer put in his 10 football practices and got to play in the Chargers’ season finale, a 31-14 victory over Mountlake Terrace.
Then, the focus switched to basketball and helping the Chargers return to the district tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 season. That’s the only time Marysville Getchell, now in its fifth year of fielding a varsity basketball team, has qualified for the postseason.
In its three other seasons the Chargers have seven wins combined.
“He’s actually started 75 percent of the games this year for us,” Schuh said. “We start him because he’s a smart kid, he knows our stuff, he’s a great leader. He’s gotten more minutes as the season has gone on. He was probably our leading scorer in the summer. He’s finally getting back there now in the middle of the season.”
The Chargers hope to return to the district playoffs to see if they can make a little run in the postseason.
“We feel like we have the pieces to the puzzle,” Schuh said. “I think this is the best team that I’ve ever coached, in terms of chemistry, work ethic, closeness. I’m having a lot of fun coaching these guys. And, yeah, we feel like we could get there and win games.
“We want to continue to get better. We’ve got to find ways to win games in the fourth quarter — I think we know that as a team — but we’re just trying to continue to work hard and put ourselves in a position in the fourth quarter where we’re there.”
Added Taylor Koellmer: “Right now, our main goal is getting into the playoffs. We want to get into the playoffs and see where we go from there.”
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