Mariner’s Ondriezek has the right values

When the Super Bowl is played Sunday, we can evaluate three levels of teams in this area on their success. Mike Holmgren and the Seahawks have reached the playoffs for five straight years. Enough said.

Tyrone Willingham is the best Washington coach since Don James. His teams have improved steadily and the rebuilding continues. Those who would condemn his record need to reconsider. His recruiting class ranked eighth nationally! He is surrounding Jake Locker with a team of players with equal or better talent, and his team is exactly where I thought it would be three years ago.

The high school coach of the year, of any year, is Mariner’s John Ondriezek. He could be using the school’s transient population and poverty rate as excuses for failure, but John doesn’t do excuses, and he never fails. He has been behind and has run out of time a few times, but his kids keep working. Failure is not in his vocabulary, making it one of the few words he wouldn’t know. A voracious reader, he and his wife, Sue, a reading teacher, can be found on weekends browsing book stores rather than watching football on TV.

John’s staff includes a number of ex-high school head coaches, who choose to be integral parts of a program that they believe in. They are loyal because he is loyal.

I’ve known John for 20 years, and I am passionate about high school football played the right way. John does it right. He lets his kids play and most importantly does not run up scores — something that cannot be said about other area coaches I could name.

Jim Olsen

Everett