Nearly 13 years ago, Jordan Sieh stood on the field in front of a packed house at Everett Memorial Stadium as the Cascade High School football team took down an undefeated Olympia squad in the quarterfinals of the 2005 Class 4A state playoffs.
It was one of the best runs in the program’s history and a surreal moment for the then-18-year-old Sieh, who’s team had just punched its ticket to the Tacoma Dome for a state semifinal appearance.
“I’ve lived in Everett my whole life, and I don’t think I’ve seen the stadium that packed,” Sieh recalled. “It was just an amazing moment. We had a lot of ups and downs that season and we just jelled at the right time.”
The Bruins lost to eventual state runner-up Woodinville the following week, but Sieh, who was promoted to head coach of Cascade’s football team last week, said he hopes to bring the Bruins’ program out of hibernation and create that same level of excitement.
“I know this town can get behind a winning football team,” Sieh said. “It’s exciting.”
Sieh, a 2006 Cascade graduate, takes over as head coach after spending seven seasons as an assistant on the Bruins’ staff, most recently as the varsity offensive coordinator and junior-varsity head coach.
“I just felt really blessed,” Sieh said of landing the job. “I kind of felt prepared and at peace about it. If I got it, I got it. If I didn’t, I didn’t. I just feel ready to go.”
He said he hopes the success he experienced at Cascade will set an example for his players that they can go a long way with the resources at their disposal.
“I think the kids can just relate to what you’re saying,” Sieh said of building relationships with his players. “They know you’ve been there. … Football is a tough sport, and I think when you have that message of someone doing it before you, you know it can be done. And it can be done the right way.”
Cascade is coming off its first .500 season since making a first-round appearance in the state playoffs in 2013 and looks to continue to make strides toward positioning itself among the top program’s in Wesco 4A.
“I think last year we got to the point where we were a really competitive football team, and we went out expecting to win,” Sieh said. “Minus a couple of games we played against some of the best teams in the state, we really battled. We were right there. I think the kids now believe in the process and they believe in the scheme. It’s huge because confidence is everything.”
Sieh was a seven-time letter winner at Cascade and was a second-team All-Wesco 4A North selection as a linebacker his senior year. He also participated in basketball, wrestling and baseball.
After graduating, he spent four years in the Army, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
After completing his stint in the Army, Sieh joined the Washington State National Guard for a year and enrolled at the University of Washington, where he majored in history. He received his master’s degree in education from Western Washington University and has taught social studies at Cascade since 2015.
In February, he got married.
Sieh gets his first taste of being a varsity head coach in a Week 1 matchup with cross-town rival Everett, which also has a new coach.
“We’re gonna be a disciplined program. There’s gonna be standards that gotta be met,” Sieh said. “We’re gonna run the ball on offense and we’re gonna fly to the ball on defense. Cascade’s gonna be a well-coached football team, and we’re ready to play.”
