Haynes Quits After One Year At Sandpoint

After one season, Tyler Haynes has resigned as boys basketball coach at Sandpoint High.

Haynes said he resigned because he wasn’t given a full-time teaching job as promised when hired. He served as a long-term substitute this year at Sandpoint Middle School.

Haynes claims three history teaching jobs came open but he was denied a job.

Sandpoint athletic director Jack Dyck said that’s untrue. According to Dyck, one history job at the high school was filled by an in-district transfer to balance staffs districtwide.

The Bulldogs went 6-15 under Haynes and they were winless (0-8) against North Idaho rivals in the Border League.

Haynes did not return several phone calls this week.

“I’m very disappointed for him,” said Dyck, who held the coaching job for five years before Haynes was hired. “But I understand his position. We wanted him to be a teacher on our staff and head coach for a long time. He proved himself at the middle school to be a very qualified teacher. But the teaching job situation was completely out of my hands. I tried to talk him into staying, but this decision is strictly Tyler’s. He feels like the commitment to him wasn’t honored.”

While the boys basketball vacancy fell into Dyck’s lap this week, he made progress in filling other positions.

Dyck announced Friday the hiring of head coaches in boys soccer, cross country and wrestling.

Mike Randles, a former assistant under Dan Taylor, has been named the wrestling coach, replacing Eric Langley who took over when Taylor resigned last year.

Randy Thoreson, a varsity assistant to Ed Bock, has been named soccer coach. Thoreson has deep ties in youth soccer in the community.

Mike Flaim, a substitute last year, has been named cross country coach, replacing longtime coach Cheryl Klein, who resigned to take over as cheerleader advisor.

Coeur d’Alene High basketball and baseball standout Casey Hoorelbeke has orally committed to attend College of Southern Idaho.

Hoorelbeke, who led the Vikings to the State A-1 championship in basketball, plans to play both sports at the Twin Falls school.

A proposal to expand the State A-1 and A-2 boys basketball tournaments to 12 teams was denied at the Idaho High School Activities Association meetings this week.

High school superintendents overwhelmingly opposed the proposal.

Angela Grant Newcomb has been selected as the new volleyball coach for University High School.

The former Ferris High and Eastern Washington University standout has coached Lakeside High in Nine Mile Falls, Wash., for the past four years.