PORT TOWNSEND — The newest Port Townsend head football coach comes from a cowboy background, but it’s not with the Redhawks main rival, the Chimacum Cowboys.
New head coach Alex Heilig’s family runs a cattle ranch in Arizona — hence the cowboy connection.
Port Townsend School District Athletic Director Scott Wilson announced the hire of Heilig, 30, on Saturday, pending school board approal.
A parents meeting to introduce Heilig will be held at the high school, 1500 Van Ness St., following a team conditioning workout at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Heilig also is in the running for a full-time teaching position within the district.
He takes over the head football position from Nick Snyder, who compiled a 28-13 overall record in four seasons with three playoff appearances and two Olympic League 1A Division titles.
That includes last season’s 10-1 team that steamrolled its way to the Class 1A state playoffs.
Heilig went 1-9 with Granite Falls in his first season as a head coach last fall.
An alignment in coaching philosophies helped land him the Port Townsend position.
“We come from the same school of thought, Bruce Brown’s Proactive Coaching,” Wilson said.
“What I really like about him is he will hold everyone accountable, from kids to coaches to colleagues.
“And he’s an all-around great guy and will be a valuable asset for us.
“He knows he’s inherited a strong team and he’s going to keep the team going in the right direction.”
Heilig is familiar with Port Townsend from having coached against the team as an assistant at Coupeville.
His wife’s parents live in Coupeville, and its where he did his student teaching and held his first teaching position.
“Port Townsend has an unbelievable reputation for its community, its academic reputation and we competed against Port Townsend in my time at Coupeville, so I know the types of athletes they have and I feel like I know the community pretty well,” Heilig said.
“Getting to know Scott Wilson we found we had similar philosophies and seemed like a good fit.
“We didn’t know we were both big in to the proactive coaching philosophy and big subscribers to it and we instantly clicked on that.”
Heilig did some volunteer work with the team supervising voluntary conditioning workouts before being hired as head coach.
“The character of the kids really stood out to me,” Heilig said.
“I’ve never had a group of kids come over after a workout and shake all the coaches hands. That really stayed with me.”
Port Townsend lost a great deal of skill and size to graduation, including All-Peninsula Offensive MVP David Sua and All-Peninsula Defensive MVP Keegan Khile.
Still, talent remains on the roster, as well as the full complement of Snyder’s assistant coaching staff.
“I know the team pretty well, one of my best buddies was the coach at Coupeville last year, so I can see kids stepping up and filling those leadership roles.
“There’s a lot of skill returning and I’m very excited about what we are going to be working with this fall,” Heilig said.
“And I’m happy to have Tom Webster, Rich Hill and Terry Khile all returning as assistants, so that will make the transition smoother for us.”
Wilson said the assistant coaches are all on board with the move.
“They wanted a leader,” Wilson said. “The assistant coaches were very adamant they wanted an organized head coach who’s on top of things and can run the show in the weight room, on the practice field and on Friday nights.”
Heilig’s past history includes assistant coaching positions in Arizona and at Coupeville and South Whidbey.
He served as offensive coordinator under former NCAA Division I Nevada coach Chris Tormey at South Whidbey in 2014.
“I feel like he really took me under his wing and put a big stamp on my coaching philosophy,” Heilig said of Tormey.
“I learned a lot about organizational skills, expectations and the commitment level needed to be successful in this position.”
As to the product fans will see on the field this fall?
Expect some tweaks.
“I have a bit of a different philosophy offensively,” Heilig said.
“I’m more of a spread [formation] guy and we run a hurry-up offense to go with it.”
On defense, the Redhawks may change out of Snyder’s preferred 4-4 front.
“The team was successful with the 4-4 last year, but traditionally I’ve run a 3-3-5,” Heilig said.
“With being late getting going here we will have to adjust to that and see how much new stuff we can introduce.”
Heilig also said he isn’t married to one system over another.
“You have to adapt your offense and defense to the numbers and talent that you have,” Heilig said.
Football practices begin Wednesday, Aug. 17 around the state.
Port Townsend opens the season by hosting Sequim at Memorial Field at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikecarmanPDN
Port Townsend head football coach Alex Heilig Port Townsend’s new head football coach Alex Heilig (standing) speaks to South Whidbey High School players after a conditioning session during the 2014 season. Heilig was an assistant coach for the Falcons. Ben Watanabe/Sound Publishing
