Hout holds the line
Talk to any high school football coach in Idaho about Byron Hout of Lake City and the same six words are usually uttered.
“The best player in the state,” is the similar refrain about the 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior who was a two-way starter last year at defensive end and offensive tackle.
Lake City coach Van Troxel didn’t hesitate when asked to classify the three-year starter’s place among the athletes he has coached.
“He’s the best football player I’ve ever coached,” said Troxel, who is beginning his 31st year this fall, 29th as a head coach.
Post Falls coach Jeff Hinz extended his praise a notch higher than many of his peers.
“He’s not only the best player in the state, he may possibly be the best player in the Pacific Northwest,” Hinz said. “He’s a game changer.”
Troxel explained Hout’s value to a college coach who asked about him during a spring recruiting period.
“I told him he could take the best player out of the state of Texas and line him up across from Byron and I’d take Byron and kick his (butt) in the fourth quarter,” Troxel said. “I guarantee you that his motor and football ability is as good as anybody in the country – even if he’s not the biggest or fastest.”
Boise State, the University of Washington, Idaho, Eastern Washington and Idaho State all contacted Hout last spring. BSU, which went 13-0 last year and finished ranked fifth in the nation, invited Hout to attend a summer camp.
A day after the camp, BSU head coach Chris Peterson called Hout and offered him a full-ride scholarship. Hout was one of the first players in the class of 2008 to accept an offer from BSU.
Hout was the unconventional pick as 5A player of the year last fall as a junior after LC finished a storybook season at 12-0 and cruised to the state championship. Usually the annual award goes to a player in a skill position. He had 83 tackles, including 12 sacks and 16 tackles for a loss. He also forced four fumbles and recovered two.
One of several video highlights for Hout came when he intercepted a pass he tipped and sprinted 60 yards for a touchdown in LC’s 35-6 win over Highland in the state final.
The week before, in a 31-7 semifinal win over defending champ Meridian, Hout plowed through running back Austin Deck with a bone-bruising hit, causing a fumble that he scooped up and returned 15 yards for a TD.
The week before that, in a 48-7 playoff-opening win over Coeur d’Alene, Hout blocked a punt, pancaking the Vikings punter who had to be helped from the field.
“He’s probably one of the best high school football players that I’ve coached against,” Meridian coach Mike Virden told The Idaho Statesman newspaper. “He’s just explosive and strong. … He’s just that rare kid on the defensive line that can change a game. There’s not a lot of kids that can do that.”
All those accolades may not have come Hout’s way if not for his grandparents, Charlie and Carol Parr, whom Hout has lived with since the seventh grade.
“They’ve always been a big part of my life, but they’ve been there for me the last five years,” Hout said.
Hout is the youngest of four boys separated by 4 ½ years. Life became difficult for them in 2000 when their parents divorced. Things began to unravel, though, in 2002 when their father moved away and their mother had to deal with health issues. Byron declined to disclose more details.
Hout”s mother found it too difficult to raise four boys by herself.
“Things weren’t always dysfunctional,” Hout said. “My grandpa and grandma stepped in at a difficult time in all of our lives. We just had some problems that a lot of families go through.”
Troxel marvels at the influence the Parrs have had on raising Hout.
“Nine out of 10 kids in Byron’s situation wouldn’t be in school today, let alone playing football, had it not been for his grandparents,” Troxel said. “We wouldn’t be talking about Byron if it wasn’t for them.”
The Parrs were living in Walnut Creek, Calif., where they had spent most of their time raising their family. They were in the process of buying a home in Coeur d’Alene, where a few of their friends had already relocated, when they determined their two youngest grandsons needed a stable home.
The Parrs, who are in their late 60s, have filled the role of parents in more ways than one. Charlie works on the chain crew on the sidelines at the football games; Carol is one of the team’s official “moms” and helped organize snacks for nutritional breaks during two-a-day practices. She also organizes pregame dinners for the team.
Hout’s mother, who lives in California, attended one of his games as a sophomore and will travel to CdA this fall for another game. Hout’s father, who lives in Colorado, is in town this week to see his son play for the first time. LC plays host to Timberline of Boise in a season opener Friday.
“They have good relationships now,” Carol Parr said. “They’ve stayed in touch over the years.”
A look at the boyish-faced Hout camouflages the player he is on the field.
“I’m a different person on the field than I am off the field,” Hout said. “I don’t go out to injure anybody, but my goal is to put as much force into hits as I can. Sports Illustrated put out a video about the biggest hits in the NFL. It’s one of my favorites. I try to not only make a person feel a hit physically, but I want them to feel it mentally, too. Hopefully, it makes them hesitate on the next play.”
Troxel has switched Hout from defensive end to middle linebacker, the position he most likely will play in college. Troxel said he made the change because he believes it will cause opponents fits trying to prepare a game plan.
“If we were playing against Byron and he was at defensive end, we would call plays that would go away from him 70 percent of the time,” Troxel said. “With him in the middle, you can’t run away from him. Watching him during (preseason), you would never know that he’s done anything else but play linebacker.”
Troxel said Hout won’t be a permanent fixture in the middle, either. LC also will line Hout up at end and over the center at nose guard.
“The game now becomes ‘Find Byron,’ ” Troxel said.
Hout also will see action at offensive tackle, a position he was plugged into midway through the season last year in an emergency when a starter was injured. Come to find out, he was LC’s best offensive lineman.
“He’s the best offensive lineman in the state, too. There isn’t anybody he can’t block,” Troxel said. “He just has a natural instinct and understanding of the game. Some kids have it, some kids don’t. That’s why he’s going (BSU) where he’s going.”
Lewiston coach Emmett Dougherty was told that LC graduated 10 of 11 starters on defense.
He said it doesn’t matter because of the specific player that returns.
“His drive and desire impresses me,” Dougherty said. “He’s a physical kid and he wants to punish people. He never takes a down off.”