THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Coaching comings and goings among local high schools

When it comes to coaching changes, no news is usually good news.

Of the schools we heard back from this past week, many of them — including Timberlake High, Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, Genesis Prep Academy and Lakeside High — will return all their varsity coaches next year.

Meanwhile, Lake City, for example, had new baseball and softball coaches this past spring, new cross country and boys soccer coaches last fall, and will have new football, boys basketball and girls basketball coaches this coming year (the new boys basketball coach, James Anderson, is the former Timberwolf girls basketball coach).

THE LACK of coaching changes at Timberlake, in particular, is no surprise — there’s a better chance of snow in April keeping the Tigers’ spring sports off their fields than there is a coaching change at Timberlake.

Since Timberlake opened in fall 1998, the Tigers have had four football coaches — and that’s if you count current coach Kelly Amos twice. He started the program, and has been head coach for three years in each stint. Roy Albertson, of course, was head coach for 17 seasons (2003-19).

Michelle Garwood started the Timberlake volleyball program, and this fall will be her 26th season as head coach.

Steve Michael started the Tigers girls soccer program in 2008; this fall will be his 16th year as head coach.

Timberlake has had three boys soccer coaches since that program started in 2014 — and one of them was Michael, who coached both teams in 2018 and ’19.

Shawn Lawler started the Tigers’ cross country program, and returned last fall after taking a leave of absence in the 2021-22 school year to travel with his wife, Stacie, speaking to schools about mental health awareness.

After four coaches in the first seven years of the program, Matt Miller has been Timberlake girls basketball coach for the past 18 seasons, and is also the Tigers’ longtime golf coach.

Boys basketball has had some turnover at Timberlake, but the changes have been pretty evenly spread out — Paul Kautzman coached for three seasons, John Hartz for four, Gerald Ely for three, Jim Simpson for four, Tony Hanna for five, Michael Scott for two, Mike Menti for three … and Mike LaFountaine will be in his third season this coming winter.

Timberlake has had eight baseball coaches in 25 seasons — including two stints of Bill Rider, one for 10 seasons and one for one season.

Timberlake has had just three softball coaches, two of them over the past 24 of the 25 seasons — Mike Menti for 16 seasons, and Casi Lupinacci just completed her eighth season.

And, of course, Timberlake has had just two track and field head coaches, including Brian Kluss for the past 21 seasons.

POST FALLS lost its cross country coach, as Brian Trefry, who coached the Trojans for 20 seasons, is retiring from teaching.

“He was an outstanding coach for us,” Post Falls athletic director Craig Christensen said. “I hate to see him leave … He’s given a lot to the program; he’s put in a lot of hard work to get the success that he’s had with the program.”

Ryan Booth, who ran cross country and track and field at Post Falls, and has been an assistant cross country coach in college, will replace Trefry as coach.

A cross country coach named Booth? At Post Falls?

“He’s one of those Booths that wasn’t a wrestler,” Christensen said. “He was a runner. … he broke the mold; he was a cross country runner and a track runner.”

Francine Ungarten, who played soccer at St. John’s University, and recently moved to the Silver Valley from the east coast, is the Trojans’ new girls soccer coach. She has club soccer coaching experience.

LAKELAND IS bringing back a blast from the past in boys soccer — Nick Haynes, who coached the Hawks from 2000-2011. He replaces Jeremiah Beckett, who coached the past six seasons.

In his last season at Lakeland, Haynes guided the Hawks to state for the first time in program history, where they won the consolation title.

“He has been raising and coaching his boys as they competed in their own sports in school,” Lakeland AD Matt Neff said. “He is now getting close to being an empty nester and wanted to get back into coaching.”

Lakeland baseball coach Jason Bradbury, who coached the Hawks for 20 seasons, has stepped down. Bradbury took Lakeland to state nine times, including a runner-up finish in 2014. The Hawks most recently qualified for state in 2019, losing in the third-place game.

“He’s been one of the longer-tenured coaches at Lakeland,” Neff said. “He’s invested so much into the facilities there; he’s brought that field up to a pretty high standard. Just a great career; just a great baseball tradition that he had established there. It’s not too often anymore that you see those 20-year coaches, because to be a varsity coach anymore, the time commitment … it’s not the same as it used to be.

“He’s got a career to be proud of, a tenure to be proud of. Anytime you have someone that commits 20 years toward a program like that, that’s to be commended, because it’s such a commitment, especially at the 4A/5A level around here.”

AT KOOTENAI, former Warrior athlete Jake Pfeiffer resigned as football coach and boys basketball coach after two seasons with each team.

Jason Strobel, a volunteer assistant in Kootenai’s junior high football program last year, is the Warriors’ new head football coach.

Tom Tucker, who was the Genesis Prep golf coach this past spring, is Kootenai’s new boys basketball coach — and, apparently, still the Jaguars’ golf coach.

“Our plan is for him to continue to do golf at Genesis Prep, since he is the golf pro at The Links,” Genesis Prep AD Scott Ferguson said. “It will be fun having him at both sites, even coaching against some boys during basketball and then coaching them in golf.”

AND ST. MARIES will have a new girls basketball coach after Dakota Wickard, last year’s coach, was named athletic director, replacing the retiring Todd Gilkey.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.