Lakewood hires Adam McShane as new head football coach

Lakewood High School has hired its next football coach.

Adam McShane, a 2015 Blaine High School graduate, takes over the reins of the Cougar program after spending the past four seasons as an assistant coach at White River.

It’s the first head coaching job at the high school level for the former Pacific Lutheran University offensive lineman. He served as an offensive line coach, special teams coordinator and offensive coordinator during his stint with White River.

McShane, 25, replaces longtime coach Dan Teeter, who guided Lakewood to a 95-75 record, four conference titles and three state playoff berths over 17 seasons from 2006-22.

McShane said he knew there would be a big hole to fill in the Lakewood community without Teeter at the helm and that he hopes to draw on his own past experience of going through a coaching change to ease the transition for his Lakewood squad.

“I’ve been through that as a college player before,” McShane said. “I thought maybe I could do some good there.”

His hope is to do that by maintaining some of the traditions built within the program while also trying to bring a new vision.

“I think sometimes when you find a high school football job, you’re kind of almost tearing it down to the studs or the foundation and thinking it’s a rebuild,” McShane said, “but something like this with the ‘we-over-me’ philosophy Coach Teeter has had plays right into what I want to do, which is develop great young men.”

Among the traditions McShane plans to keep is the annual 7-on-7 Cougars Championship Passing Tournament, which is set to return for its 15th rendition this summer.

McShane also made a concerted effort to reach out to the rest of the coaching staff soon after being hired. He retained nearly all of the 2022 staff, including defensive coordinator Mitch Robbins and special teams coordinator Jake Kon. McShane said Kon will also take over offensive coordinator duties this fall.

McShane recently had a chance to meet with players and already had some familiarity with the Lakewood team he’s inheriting from watching film of the Cougars’ game against White River’s South Puget Sound League-foe Washington last season.

“They had some incredible athletes,” he said of his new squad.

McShane, who was born in Everett, said he was also drawn to the small-town feel of the Lakewood community and hopes to keep building a strong culture and support system around the program within it.

“I’m really looking forward to our program adding value back to the community, so we can create the best Friday night experience for the school district of Lakewood,” McShane said. “… What that’s gonna take is us being available to help people and giving back to the community. So, we’re going to find unique ways to do that.”