Kyle Peacocke was not supposed to be in this position. While he was finishing up college in 1996, Peacocke was an assistant coach for Inglemoor High School football. He envisioned that he would eventually become a head coach for football.
But two weeks before the softball season, head coach Jeff Skelly, who was also an assistant for football, informed Peacocke that he would join his staff. Peacocke had played baseball in high school, but was unsure about coaching softball. Skelly did not take no for an answer.
“[Skelly] said, ‘Kyle, this is not an option,’” Peacocke recalled. “‘You want to be a teacher and a coach, you need to have as many experiences as you can, and you need to come out and do this.’ So I said, ‘Okay.’ … Sometimes, especially in our sport, it’s hard to find assistant coaches, so I think initially, maybe, he was looking for a body to help him out.”
So Peacocke took his spot as an outfield coach with the Vikings, who went on to win the KingCo and district championships before finishing third at state. From there, he was hooked. Just a few years later in 2000, while student-teaching at Everett High School, the softball head coaching spot opened.
25 years later, Peacocke was awarded the National Coaches Award for Fastpitch Softball by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). After 12 years at Everett followed by 13 seasons at Jackson High School, Peacocke stepped down in June to focus on his role as athletic coordinator at Jackson and spend more time with family, but that wasn’t before racking up accolades and turning Jackson into a softball powerhouse.
The Timberwolves have won four of the past five Class 4A state titles, and Peacocke has coached 10 district championship teams. A five-time Herald All-Area Coach of the Year, Peacocke’s teams qualified for the postseason every year a tournament was held (23 times).
Coaching elite teams came with guiding elite athletes, including Iyanla De Jesus, who earned 4A Player of the Year honors in 2018 and 2019 and led the Timberwolves to state titles in both seasons. After a decorated career at Coastal Carolina, where she earned First Team All-Sun Belt in 2023, De Jesus is happy to see her high school coach recognized.
“He absolutely deserves it,” De Jesus said. “He always prioritized the team, what the team needs and he would always show up for the players if they needed it. … He was just a great coach, and he knew when he needed to help players and when he needed to let them work through stuff.”
De Jesus remembers the panic she felt ahead of the first district tournament game in 2019, pressured to repeat the championship run from 2018. She also remembered how Peacocke calmed her down with a quick talk, removing pressure from the situation and restoring her confidence. The Timberwolves not only went on to win the game, but completed the full run to repeat their title.
That human relationship aspect of coaching is one that Peacocke admits took him a while to master. After starting his career as a “pretty intense” coach, Peacocke credits Sophie Frost with helping him change his style. Frost pitched for Jackson from 2013-2016 before playing at Cal State Fullerton. Her balance of competitiveness and having fun helped Peacocke alter his approach.
“We go to battle together, and we’d have our intense moments,” Peacocke said. “But realizing that the game is supposed to be fun, and you do things together and for each other really kind of set the groundwork.”
From there, Jackson’s dugouts would routinely be the loudest during games, bringing a new level of positive energy. Peacocke even bleached his hair for the team, fulfilling his incentive offer for winning the 2018 state championship.
It culminated with the National Coaches Award, which the NFHS bestows to 24 high school coaches, each representing one of 12 sports for boys and girls. A total of 964 coaches are honored with state, sectional and national awards, according to their website, but Peacocke was among the few to receive the highest honor for 2023-24.
“It was very humbling,” Peacocke said. “It gives you a sense of pride in terms of things that have happened during the time I’ve been coaching. But for me, I look at it as kind of a staff award, too. I had assistant coaches that I worked with for a long time, and I know my name’s on it, but I certainly think it’s a collective coaching staff recognition.”
Now, for the first time in a quarter-century, Peacocke will not be preparing for the upcoming season, which he knows will be a strange feeling. Then he thinks of how he continues to text with his coaching friends around the region, and how he’ll still attend games as Jackson’s athletic coordinator. He also marvels at the prospect of going on vacation during spring break for the first time in 28 years. For all Peacocke’s accomplished, he certainly deserves one.
“It was never about winning any coaching awards,” Peacocke said. “I just wanted to make an impact in kids’ lives and the teams that I coached. I wanted each one of those teams individually to be as successful as that team could be, and that’s kind of where my focus has always been.”
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