Mead hires Benji Sonnichsen as football coach

Mead High School has moved quickly to put its football controversy in the rearview mirror.

Barely two weeks after the resignation of head coach Sean Carty, the Panthers have hired former Prosser coach Benji Sonnichsen to take the reins.

“His résumé speaks for itself,” Mead athletic director John Barrington said Tuesday after the hire of Sonnichsen, a lifelong Prosser resident who led the Mustangs to a 58-16 record in six seasons.

The 35-year-old Sonnichsen also guided Prosser to three berths in the state 2A semifinals, and twice reached the quarterfinals.

Sonnichsen declined to comment until a contract is signed, he said Tuesday night.

After graduating from Prosser High in 1996, Sonnichsen played collegiately at Pacific Lutheran University and was a safety on the Lutes’ 1999 national championship team.

Sonnichsen, who succeeded longtime Prosser coach Tom Moore in 2009, stepped down last fall.

“This isn’t the classic ‘I want to spend more time with my family’ thing,” he told the Yakima Herald-Republic in November.

“I am called to be a football coach. Our family mission statement is we do football. … We are on board as a family, but I need more balance in my life.”

Sonnichsen will take over a program mired in controversy after Carty’s contract was terminated in late March. Parents of football players hired an attorney late last year and brought forward a list of complaints about Carty’s handling of several interactions with players, prompting the district to hire a second attorney to investigate the claims.

Carty’s job was restored on appeal and he then resigned on June 8.

Barrington said he’s eager to see the program move forward.

“The focus will be on our kids, playing football and moving ahead,” Barrington said.