MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Coming off the most successful football season in school history, the Mountlake Terrace football team is under new leadership this season.
First-year head coach Kelly Dougan will be faced with the challenge of keeping the Hawks on a winning path in 2015. Dougan, who coached the Hawks’ freshman team the past two seasons and has coached youth football in the community since 1998, takes over for Tony Umayam, who resigned in March after 11 seasons as head coach of the Hawks.
In addition to trying to help the Hawks win games, Dougan wants to see the football program become a recognizable part of the community.
“I want the people to buy-in to the program, into the community, into the school and to the Hawk label and be enthusiastic about it from a young age,” he said. “(I want to) get our businesses involved in the community and have them vested in the football program and make the kids understand that they’re doing something special and carrying on what has been has real positive last five or six years for Terrace football.”
In order to sustain success, Dougan not only hopes to see the communities’ youth get involved, but also hopes to bring in more participation from students who haven’t played football or sports before.
Dougan, who owns Sorelli’s Pizza in Mountlake Terrace, also plans for he and his staff to be visible to the players even though they may not all work at the school. Dougan said he will be on campus every day during the season and he spent three to four days a week on campus at the end of the 2014-15 school year after he was hired in late April.
For all the success the Hawks had a year ago, Dougan said this year’s team is focused on the present.
“We haven’t talked about last season one time,” he said. “I haven’t heard the kids talk about it. I think they’re focused on 2015, the new coaching staff, the new system and new ideas about how we do things. From my standpoint and the coaching staff’s standpoint, we want to keep it rolling, but we’re doing it our own way.”
MOUNTLAKE TERRACE HAWKS
Head Coach: Kelly Dougan (first season)
Key Returners: Drew Klippert, Sr., OL/DL; Mikey Jenson, Sr., QB/LB/K; Tanner Munnis, Sr., FB/LB.
Coach’s Quote: “My staff and I are excited and anticipate having a solid 2015 season. We really like our group of kids. They are good people, great students and hard-working football players. Having graduated 22 seniors from 2014, you will see many new names and faces suited up on Friday nights, but we feel real good about our potential with this group. Overall, the program is strong. We have solid numbers in each class and are fortunate to have a large and talented freshman class, so we feel the future is bright for Terrace.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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