The High School Cover 2 Sports blog over at the Seattle PI has a really great post about the Mountlake Terrace High School football program and coach Tony Umayam.

The author of the blog and former Terrace coach, Jim Olsen, recently interviewed current Mountlake Terrace Head Football Coach Tony Umayam. A more in-depth interview will be posted later.

Is it more difficult to resuscitate a moribund or dying high school football program or to step in and maintain the high-quality participation of an already successful one? Mountlake Terrace High School has spent most of the last fifty years mired at or near the bottom of league football standings.

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Tony Umayam credits the city of Mountlake Terrace and its people for much of his success. A current middle-class enclave, the Terrace was built in 1954 as a place where young families using the G.I. Bill could jump-start their lives after WWII and the Korean War. This area’s starter homes, the kind of homes that are seldom built in these days of maximized profits, were critical in giving young families a toe-hold in suburbia and a chance to grab the brass ring of prosperity and respectability. Many residents eventually took the equity out of their house and bought a bigger, more expensive home. An ex-principal of mine said at that time, “You will buy four homes in your life, and the fifth one is free.” You keep buying bigger and bigger until the kids have flown the nest and then you can take the equity out of your house and buy a new, smaller home… for just the two of you. The equity will pay for it. The fifth one is free.
Jim Olsen High School Cover 2 Sports Blog

Read the entire thing at the Seattle PI High School Cover 2 Sports blog.