Now he’s ‘The Guy’
One of the pieces of sage advice coaches tell each other as they move in and out of jobs is: You never want to be the guy who follows “The Guy.” You want to be the guy who follows the guy who follows “The Guy.”
In other words, you don’t want to be the guy who replaces John Wooden at UCLA. You want to replace his replacement.
In Pacific Northwest high school cross country, “The Guy” always has been Pat Tyson. Fourteen state championships (two at Shorecrest and a dozen more at Mead, including a run of nine successive state big-school titles that started in 1988) and coaching seven teams to top-five national rankings – including last year – will do that to a coach.
But “The Guy” is now the assistant men’s and women’s cross country coach at the University of Kentucky, making Steve Kiesel the guy who follows “The Guy.”
“I don’t know if it’s fate or destiny,” Kiesel said.
It may be a little of both.
The former head cross country coach at Rogers got into running, and later coaching and teaching, because of Tyson’s influence.
“We went to the same high school,” he said. “He graduated six years ahead of me.
“I was telling the kids in my leadership class that I’ve known Pat for 34 years. He’s the one who inspired me to do this: to run and later on to coach and teach. It’s his fault.
“We were talking about whether you’re destined for certain things, or is it fate? I guess it depends on what path you choose and this is the path I chose. Everything worked out for me and I guess I was destined or fated to be here.”
There will be no drastic changes in coaching style or philosophy under the new coach, Kiesel said.
“I think over the next few years you’ll see more of my imprint on the program,” he said. “I think I tend to emphasize speed a little bit more than Pat did, but for the most part, we’re very much alike in how we approach the sport.”
What is new to Kiesel is the preseason hype surrounding both Mead and Ferris – perennial heavyweights that have won the past six consecutive state Class 4A titles: the past three by Ferris, the three before that by Mead.
Mead finished fourth at last year’s Nike Team Nationals meet in December, third the year before that. Ferris placed 10th a year ago.
Going into this season, Mead is the No. 1-ranked boys cross country team in the nation, according to one publication; Ferris is No. 3.
“Pat (Tyson) once told me that I was the biggest thorn in his side of anyone else he coached against,” Ferris coach Mike Hadway said. “I think that’s the best compliment I’ve ever been paid.”
Last year Mead won the Greater Spokane League regular-season title and was the Eastern Regional champion. Ferris won the state title.
“You try to downplay all the hype,” Kiesel said. “The attention is really flattering, but now we have to go out on the road and prove it. We have a long haul in front of us.”
With two teams ranked in the top three in the nation and three in the top 25 by another poll (Central Valley is ranked 21st), the GSL may be the toughest league in the country in any sport.
“It seems like there’s never a down time – a meet you can just sort of glide through,” Kiesel said. “There just isn’t that meet where you have a couple of teams that aren’t really that strong and you can rest a few people, maybe, or to train through it.
“Top to bottom, this is just a great league full of coaches with a passion for the sport.”
The Class 4A portion of the GSL, however, will have new faces on all but one team.
Hadway begins his 19th season at Ferris. Every other Class 4A team has a new head coach: Mead (Kiesel), Gonzaga Prep (Joe Feryn), Lewis and Clark (Andre Wicks), Central Valley (James Berry), University (Mike Barbero), Shadle Park (Bruce Haffercamp) and Rogers (Brianna Coleman).
The Class 3A portion is led by the dean of GSL distance coaches, Dave McCarty, who enters his 27th season at East Valley. Craig Dietz at Mt. Spokane and Jon Knight at North Central each enter their ninth season.