Brass tabbed head coach of Sandpoint track team

SANDPOINT — As a senior in 1994, Matt Brass ran the 800 meters for Sandpoint and longtime head coach Dave DeMers.

Brass then spent more than a decade as an assistant on the Bulldog track team, so it came as a surprise when DeMers approached him recently to share the news that he was stepping down.

When the position officially opened up, Brass was more than ready to take the baton from his former coach and friend, and on Tuesday he was named the new head track coach at Sandpoint.

“To take it over from Dave is really special. He’s like family to us,” said Brass, who hopes to bring over many of the same traits that have made him a highly-successful and popular cross country coach for the past decade. “Make it cohesive, team-building, and leveraging the great coaches already on this staff. It’s fun to take on that challenge.”

Brass and wife Angie come as a package deal when it comes to coaching, as the two have helped build one of the top 4A cross country and distance running programs in the state. Both are extremely committed coaches, and Angie will now take over most of the distance duties as Matt will be busy handling the head coaching duties.

If his success as a cross country coach is any indicator, Brass will look to put the program on the map at the state level. He guided the Bulldog girls to state cross country titles in 2013 and 2014, and is eager to take the reins of the track and field team.

“We’ll focus on getting the numbers back up there again,” he said, lauding the cohesiveness of the current coaching staff. “ We’re hoping to get three athletes at every event at regionals.”

Brass takes pride in the number of his pupils leaving Sandpoint and continuing to run in college, and the trend will continue this season, with as many as five runners heading to the next level. The Brasses are both hands on coaches, or maybe it’s feet-on coaches in this case, as both often pound the pavement while logging training miles with their students.

Sandpoint athletic director Kris Knowles said the hiring of Brass was an easy decision, calling him the top candidate.

“He’s a proven entity. The success he’s had in cross country, and the professionalism in coaching, we knew the type of guy and coach we were getting,” described Knowles. “We wanted to keep things rolling, and Matt’s the guy to do that. It’s a no-brainer.”