BREAKING — Kelso football coach Steve Amrine steps down after 12 seasons
Prep Football: Hilanders never missed the playoffs under Amrine's watch
Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com
After a dozen seasons calling the shots for Kelso High School football, and several months of mulling it all over, Steve Amrine announced his resignation from the position this week.
That decision marked the end, or at least a new chapter, in a remarkable 20-year coaching career that saw him teaching the game of life on the gridiron from Kelso to Eastern Washington University, and from Centralia all the way to Feather River College in California, not to mention stops at CWU and Idaho State.
“Those are dog years. It’s just time,” Amrine said Wednesday after confirming his decision to step down from the most coveted coaching job in the Blast Zone.
Of course, Amrine spent the last 12 years leading the Scots into Friday night battles and his teams made the playoffs in every season he was in charge of maintaining the status quo at Kelso. In four of those seasons Kelso made it to the Round of 16 in the 3A state tournament and won at least a share of two 3A Greater St. Helens League championships.
The outright league title under Amrine’s watch was the first for the Hilanders since 2004.
“It’s been an incredible run. We’ve been really successful and had a lot of great kids,” Amrine noted. “Hopefully we left the program in as good of shape as it was when we took it over.”
But after spending all those “dog years” putting so much effort into other people’s children, Amrine is ready to have a little more time to just be “dad”. His son, Tucker, is a senior and was an All-League quarterback/punter for the Hilanders, while daughter Maali is a freshman multi-sport athlete for the Lassies.
“I need to be able to watch Maali go play volleyball and I need to be able to drop Tucker off at college and go to Father’s Weekend,” Amrine explained.
However, he won’t be going away entirely, and he’s still going to be “Coach”. Amrine’s going to remain in the building at Kelso High School, where he and his wife Jaime are both teachers. And he’ll be in the dugout with the Hilanders this spring as an assistant coach again when baseball season rolls around.
And that will be a relief to many in the tight-knight Kelso community, especially as they deal with the shock to their collective antiquated systems that comes along with bringing in a new head football coach. It’s just not something that happens often in Kelso.
“Steve’s had a fantastic football career but he’s a family man and community guy first,” Kelso athletic director Bob Kickner said. “I know the decision to step away from football at this point in his career is a great one. I’m super happy for him and his family.”
And what does that mean for Kelso football? After all, the Scots only change out head coaches less frequently than most folks replace their water heater.
“Is it what we want for the football program? No. But it’s the right move for Steve and his family, and I respect that,” Kickner said. “Now we’ll get to the task of finding a quality replacement… Thankfully football season isn’t’ until September so we’ve got some time to do it right.”
Editor’s Note: Blast Zone Media will have an in-depth follow up story on the coaching career and community impact of Steve Amrine when the time is right.