Cascade and Everett high schools hired new football coaches on Friday, and both men already have football histories here in Snohomish County.
Shane Keck, a 1999 graduate of Mariner High School and a former assistant coach at Monroe High School, will take over the Cascade program after spending the last five years as an assistant coach at Mercer Island High School. Doug Trainor, a 1990 graduate of Mount Vernon High School who was previously the head coach for one season at Stanwood High School, is the new head coach at Everett.
Both men spoke Friday about their excitement for their new jobs, and the potential they see in their respective programs.
“I’ve always thought of myself as an Everett guy,” said the 33-year-old Keck, “and the chance to connect with kids in the place where I grew up is real appealing.”
“All of my coaching heroes when I was growing up came from Everett High School,” said the 43-year-old Trainor, “so for me this is a big deal. I’m stoked.”
Keck played for longtime coach John Ondriezek at Mariner and was an outside linebacker and wide receiver on the 1999 team that reached the state Class 3A championship game. He later played at Western Washington University and has coached for the last 11 years, though this will be his first head coaching position.
“What attracted me to the program was the tradition,” said Keck, who has a career in construction management and will not teach at the school. “Cascade has always had great athletes, and there has obviously been a long line of successful football, dating back to the Terry Ennis run.
“(With) a long tradition of having good football and good players, the opportunity to carry that on and kind of bring that back is real exciting,” he said.
The challenge, he said, will be to restore stability to a program that will have its third head coach in three seasons.
“We’ve got some wounds to heal a little bit,” Keck acknowledged, “and hopefully we can rebuild the trust of the kids. … There is an immense opportunity to do some great things there.”
Trainor graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1990 and played junior college football in California before an injury cut short his playing career. He began coaching while still in college and spent eight years as an assistant at Stanwood before taking head coaching jobs at Ballard (five years), Bellingham (six years) and Stanwood (one year). He was an assistant coach at Bellingham’s Squalicum High School last season.
“I love schools that have great traditions … and Everett is a school with a great background and history,” Trainor said. “I love that piece, and I’m excited to bring that tradition back to Everett High School.”
The Seagulls have just three wins in the last three seasons, so the task might seem daunting, but Trainor says he has no doubt that eventually “we’re going to be successful at Everett High School.” With his years of head coaching experience, he has a plan for establishing a strong program, “and it’s just a matter of when that takes place.”
“Football at Everett High School is going to be fine,” he said, “and it’s probably going to happen sooner rather than later. We’re going to make it work quickly.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
