THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Jayson Ulrich, former Lewiston High boys basketball coach and new head coach at Post Falls after three seasons as a Trojan assistant, says he has 'something to prove'

When Jayson Ulrich joined the Post Falls High boys basketball coaching staff three seasons ago, following eight years as head coach at Lewiston High, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Ulrich would succeed Mike McLean when McLean eventually resigned as head coach. 

In the end it was, except ... 

“I’m not going to lie to you, it was nice being an assistant coach again,” Ulrich said with a laugh. “No stress and worries of a head coach, but I got pretty attached to these players, and administration and parents have been great to me since I got here. So yeah, it quickly turned to a no-brainer when Mike officially stepped down.” 

STILL, WHEN McLean stepped down shortly after the season ended following 18 seasons at the helm, and after coaching the last of his three sons this past season, Ulrich took a few days before applying, just to make sure. 

He talked with his family, including his wife, Joy. And he talked with some coaches he worked with in Lewiston, including Dave Cornelia and Shawn Nilsson. 

“After talking to those guys, it was easy to do it again,” said Ulrich, 48. “I’ve got something to prove, and this is a good place to do it, and the kids and administration that we have, that support is top notch.” 

Something to prove? 

“Doing this again, I feel like I have something to prove that I still belong as a head coach,” Ulrich said, “and if I didn’t have something to prove, why would I be doing this?” 

Ulrich was the only one interviewed for the position — actually, he was the only applicant.  

"Once he applied, we got him in,” Post Falls High athletic director Craig Christensen said. “The committee really liked his philosophy. I’ve known him from when we played him when he was at Lewiston. He was one of the most prepared coaches that we played against. In our league, he was always overprepared for us. He gave us a hard time; he was probably one of the coaches in our league that gave us the hardest time, because he knows how to coach."  

ULRICH WAS junior varsity coach at Post Falls the past three seasons, and was an assistant on the varsity. He put in a lot of the Trojans’ baseline and sideline out-of-bounds plays, and helped with the offensive and defensive schemes where needed. 

“Mike gave me such a big voice in the program in my three years of being with him, and it made it easier,” Ulrich said. “I had certain parts with the varsity teams over those years. All those kids that have moved up through the program, I had coached at one time or another ... it was just a comfortable, easy transition.” 

Shortly after accepting the head coaching job, Ulrich quickly was approached by players, asking to get into the gym. He said his gut told him he belonged back as a head coach “almost instantly.” 

“Just going in and working out with two kids at a time, I knew I made the right decision,” he said. 

Ulrich coached Post Falls in summer tournaments this year, going 18-3, winning the CDA Summer Shootout and the Eastern Washington University camp tournament. 

“This summer was about building trust — me trusting kids, the kids trusting me,” he said. “And really us playing physical and playing hard all the time. And the kids absolutely answered those tests. Very coachable, want to do everything they can, and we made huge steps this summer to hopefully win our league, and get down to Boise (and state) again.” 

AS FOR his coaching style, Ulrich said he doesn’t want to change much from what was done under McLean, saying he and McLean are “kinda old-school. 

“For me, I’ve always ran more sets, and I’ve always ran a bunch of different defenses,” Ulrich said. “Mike had so much success. If I can just follow that lead, and add my side of things, it should be a real easy transition.” 

When Ulrich was Lewiston head coach, the Bengals were 8-14 against McLean and Post Falls over those eight seasons — a better record than Coeur d’Alene (6-16) and Lake City (5-19) had vs. the Trojans during that span. 

When McLean’s middle son, Caden, played at Post Falls, Ulrich was one of several coaches to dial up “junk” defenses against Caden and the Trojans. 

“We triangled-and-two’d, we diamond-and-one’d, we box-and-one'd,” Ulrich recalled. “We played them with a box-and-one, and Mike came back with a counter that just killed us, and they won. I changed to a diamond-and-one on Caden, and that’s how we stopped them. 

“I still joke around with Caden a little bit about it,” Ulrich added. “Those were great coaching games, because Mike made his changes, I made my changes, and they were great games right down to the end.” 

“He made me such a better coach over those years,” Ulrich said of McLean, “so when we moved up here, he was my first and only call as to where I wanted to coach again.” 

Ulrich (pronounced Ull-Rick) is still putting together his coaching staff. Brian Carlson, on McLean’s staff all 18 seasons and the varsity assistant the past three, had planned to remain in that role under Ulrich — until the Post Falls girls basketball head coaching job opened up. 

Ulrich and Carlson met while attending NIC. 

Ulrich graduated from Lewiston High in 1995 — the same year McLean graduated from Post Falls. They played against each other in high school. 

Ulrich went on to North Idaho College, where he got into refereeing and recreation at the encouragement of Paul Manzardo. He finished up at Lewis-Clark State, and has been in the recreation business ever since. He works at NIC, as the student wellness recreation center coordinator. 

Jayson and Joy celebrated their 23rd anniversary in June. Their oldest daughter, Evelyn, 21, is completing cosmetology school in Salt Lake City. Son Ryland just graduated from Post Falls High, and will be attending LC State. Daughter Alyce, 11, enjoys dance and volleyball, and attends Post Falls Middle School. 

After going 101-81 in his eight seasons at his alma mater with two trips to state, including a third-place finish in 2017, Ulrich resigned, saying that “one school board member basically didn’t want me to be the coach anymore.” 

With Lewiston dropping down to 5A last year, the Bengals and Post Falls are no longer in the same league, competing for state berths. They’ll meet just once each season, compared to two or more times in the past, counting possible postseason games. 

“I got over the Lewiston stuff real quick,” Ulrich said. “I’ve still got a lot of friends down there that were on the administrative side, and old coaches, and family. It was a blessing in disguise in leaving Lewiston and coming up here ... I’m in a way better environment up here, that I wouldn’t trade for anything. 

“There's the story that a tiger can’t change his stripes,” Ulrich said. “Well, I definitely changed my stripes. I believe in the black and orange now.”

"The biggest plus is, now he’s a Post Falls guy; he’s had that buy-in to what we do with our athletic programs and our basketball programs the last three years,” Christensen said. “He’s not a Lewiston guy anymore; he’s a Post Falls guy now.” 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.