Shadle Park finds football coach

Shadle Park principal Herb Rotchford was looking for a man with experience to turn the Highlanders’ floundering football program around. He thinks he found his man. Alan Stanfield, 35, head football coach the last two years at Timberline High in Boise, has been named Shadle Park’s head coach, replacing Mark Hester who resigned last fall following 1-9 season. Stanfield has direct ties to state championship teams. He coached Powder Valley (Ore.) to a 12-0 season and state title in 2003. He was an assistant coach at Sisters (Ore.) when it went 12-0 and captured a state title in 1999. An Albany, Ore., native, Stanfield played two years at Whitworth University. “We think Alan brings the energy, the enthusiasm and the passion for getting this program turned around,” Rotchford said. “The main thing he brings a wealth of experience.” Stanfield was one of five finalists and 20 applicants. Others who interviewed were Mike Dewey, def coordinator at Rogers; Joe Turman, an assistant at Lewis and Clark; Rick Johnson, head coach at Liberty in Spangle; and Kyle Snell, an assistant at Skyline High in Issaquah. He knows he won’t be able to turn the program around overnight. “The initial years will be tough, but we want to start the turn around process that will gain some consistency and success,” Stanfield said. “I know they’ve had that in the past and it can be restored.” Stanfield, whose overall record is 43-28 in seven seasons as a head coach, plans to move to Spokane next weekend and begin meeting immediately with prospective players. “I want to get a commitment to a year-long program,” Stanfield said. “When I say that I’m also an advocate of multiple-sport players. But we want to try to compete right away. That happens through the offseason and weightroom. If you do those things then performance on the field will follow. That model is in place at a lot of the other schools in Spokane.”