It was worth the wait for Jay Turner.
After spending 12 seasons on the Oak Harbor High School football team coaching staff, including the past eight as defensive coordinator, Turner finally climbed to the top.
Turner was named Oak Harbor’s head football coach Thursday. Nicki Luper, the school’s athletic director, announced the hiring in an e-mail.
Turner takes over for longtime Wildcats coach Dave Ward, who retired after 17 seasons.
Last month, after Ward announced his plans to leave, Turner said becoming a head coach has been his goal since he completed his playing career at the University of Montana. The 1990 Marysville-Pilchuck High graduate’s aspiration is now a reality.
“I’m pretty excited. It’s nice that it is finally official,” said Turner. “Now we can start looking ahead to next season.”
Turner takes control of a program that has been one of the most successful in the state. Under Ward, Oak Harbor won at least a share of five division titles and qualified for the playoffs the past six seasons. In 2006 the Wildcats won the Class 4A state championship. This past season they started 11-0 before losing against Bothell in the state quarterfinals.
Oak Harbor loses several key seniors, including All-Wesco North first team honorees Johnny Encinas, Rodrick Rumble, Jake Rouser, Tyler Elliot, Jordan Young and Joe Raymond, as well as key contributors like Chris Valencia and Mike Bell.
Turner, who teaches math at Oak Harbor, said he needs many talented but inexperienced kids to step up next season. He doesn’t plan to stray too much from the formula that helped the program excel before.
“We’re going to keep things similar,” said Turner. “We don’t want to change up too many things.”
Turner clearly was the best guy for the job, Oak Harbor’s Luper said.
“He has the most experience and he knows the kids, knows the system,” she said. “We just felt that was a very good transition.”
Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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