Interlake Saints’ new head football coach Brian Hartline shouted words of encouragement to a group of freshman football players during a spring football practice session.
The 40-year-old Hartline, who was an assistant coach at Issaquah High School for the past nine seasons, explained to the youthful players in attendance that “The low man wins in football,” as his players went through the basics of proper tackling technique.
Hartline, who was hired as the Saints’ head football coach in early May, takes over for the recently departed David Myers. Myers coached the Saints for three seasons, compiling an overall record 9-20. Myers’ wife accepted a job offer in Spokane in March.
Eight years ago, Hartline cultivated a goal of becoming the head coach of his own high school football program one day.
Hartline’s dream has been realized.
“It was a goal I made for myself in 2008 and it was something I just wanted to do,” Hartline said. “Coach Myers has been building the program up and I want to take where he left off and hopefully extend it further. The KingCo 3A is a respectable league, to say the least, and I’m excited to take the challenge on. It is really special and is really exciting for me. Hopefully I do some good things here.”
The past two seasons, Hartline was the Issaquah Eagles’ offensive coordinator under Eagles’ head coach Buddy Bland. Hartline, who said the Saints will run the spread offense, is excited about the talent returning to the Saints roster. The team has two of the most dynamic players in KingCo 3A returning to the starting lineup this fall. Saints senior quarterback Duncan Varela and senior wide receiver Naoki Harmer are one of the best 1-2 combinations in the league.
“There is lots of talent here especially in the skill positions like quarterback, wide receiver and running back positions,” Hartline said. “I think with any school this size (small Class 3A school) you lack kids of size sometimes but we’ve got some really dedicated lineman on this team. They are not 6 foot, 3 inches and 240 pounds but they are fiery and are super smart kids. They pick things up very quickly. I have been impressed with that.”
Hartline said the key to being a successful head coach at the high school level isn’t always about wins and losses.
“I wouldn’t call myself a disciplinarian,” he said. “I try to be an approachable coach for the kids and I try to educate them on the game to the best of my ability. I don’t consider myself the greatest X’s and O’s guy but I consider myself a student of the game and I want to develop relationships with the kids. That is the most important thing to me.”
