By Aaron Coe

Herald Writer

EVERETT – After five months of sifting through head football coach candidates, Cascade found it’s man right in it’s own back yard.

Jake Huizinga, a Cascade assistant for the past 11 seasons, is the Bruins’ new head coach.

Huizinga, 43, takes the helm of what was one of the most dominant programs in the state during the 1990’s but finished 4-5 in each of the last two seasons.

“He’s a good man, and he’s a good man for the job,” said Bob Smithson, the Everett School District’s athletic director. “I think the athletes will rally around Jake.”

The opening was created a few days after Cascade’s Nov. 2 season finale when third-year head coach Rollie Wilson informed Smithson he was retiring from coaching.

The opening was posted until Feb. 22. Huizinga and another Cascade assistant were among five candidates interviewed by a six-person committee, which included two faculty members, a parent of a player and the school’s principal.

Huizinga’s commitment to the Cascade athletics and students was a major factor in the committee’s choice, according to Smithson. It helped, he said, that Huizinga was already at the school and a teaching position did not have to be found for a teacher coming from another district. Huizinga, who teaches physical education and weight training at Cascade, was the Bruins’ head wrestling coach during his first seven years at Cascade and has assisted Sherm Iversen the past four seasons.

Wilson, who chose not to be part of the hiring committee but recommended Huizinga, likes the choice.

“They found the right guy,” Wilson said. “He has a great relationship with the athletes at Cascade High School. He’s a great coach.”

Wilson said he was concerned about the length of time it took to choose his replacement. It is important, he said, for a coach to be in touch with players year-round and believes some valuable time was “wasted” by the delayed decision.

Doug Kloke, who is the athletic director at Cascade, told The Herald in an interview last week that he was “embarrassed” by the delay. Kloke said some of the hesitation to make a decision came from the district administration, which chose to be part of the hiring process.

“This is an important position,” Smithson said. “Sometimes other things come first in terms of the whole process. We’ve got to run a school; we’ve got to run a district. I think it probably took longer than it should have … . There were a lot of very good candidates. It was not an easy decision.”

Huizinga said he believes there is just enough time left in the school year to talk as many students as possible into turning out for football in the fall while coaxing his current athletes into the weight room. Huizinga plans to use the trademark wing-T offense and attacking defense of Bruins teams that won or shared every Western Conference title in the 1990s and a state title in 1991 under Terry Ennis.

“We have X amount of time in a day that we can work with athletes,” Huizinga said. “Every moment of that time is going to be accounted for. We won’t be drilling for the sake of drilling or running for the sake of running. Everything we do will have a reason – to make this a better football team.”

Huizinga is a graduate of Abbotsford (British Columbia) Senior Secondary School. He played linebacker for one season at Bethel College in Minnesota before knee injuries ended his football career. Huizinga graduated from Western Washington in 1981, then began his coaching career at his high school alma mater.