Friday Night Lights glimmering in the distance

Since there’s an unwritten rule among sportswriters that it’s never too early to start hyping the Friday Night Lights, prep football will be the top of choice while pinch-hitting in Mark Nelke’s Sunday column space.

That sound you hear off in the distance is the popping of pads, as area high school teams from Clark Fork to Lakeside and all parts in between are out preparing for the 2018 season, smoke and stifling heat be damned. Here’s hoping for some of that rain we always seem to get during the spring sports season to cleanse the air for all of the fall sports athletes.

A familiar theme in the panhandle this fall with be first year head coaches, from Lake City’s Brian Fulp in the 5A ranks, to Sandpoint’s Ryan Knowles in the 4A ranks, to Priest River’s Justin Torfin in the 3A ranks, making for plenty of mystery and intrigue when things finally kick off in less than two weeks.

One place where there won’t be a fresh new face is Coeur d’Alene, where Shawn Amos is now the longest tenured coach in North Idaho as he enters season No. 22 guiding the state power Vikings.

I was lucky enough to coach JV football for the Vikings for four years under Amos many moons ago when he first took over the program after coaching success in Kellogg. Among the assistant coaches on those teams were Ron Nelson, Dustin Shafer, Jeff Vesser and Derek Edwards, all of whom are still coaching with the Vikings some two decades later.

The Vikings weren’t the state power then that they are now, but the rare continuity of the aforementioned assistant coaches over the years has no doubt played a part in the three state championships under Amos’s stewardship. Success and longevity often go hand in hand in the coaching ranks.

Don’t look now, but the Vikings begin the quest for another banner on Aug. 24 at Rigby.

CROSSTOWN RIVAL Lake City will look to make some noise this season under Fulp, 27, who is less than 10 years removed from a standout prep career as a quarterback and safety at Priest River Lamanna High School.

Fulp’s dad Ralph was a longtime successful football coach in Cusick, and was understandably happy to see his son follow in his coaching footsteps. Ralph, who still lives in Priest River, will be among those following the T-Wolves intently and said his son is fired up for the opportunity.

Speaking of Priest River, another young coach will be cutting his teeth as Torfin, 30, brings a solid coaching résumé to the Spartans in his first head coaching gig. The former Preston High School and junior college running back coached briefly on the staffs at Utah State and the College of Idaho, and is eager to put his stamp on a team and help the Spartans punch their ticket to state for the third straight year.

Knowles, 39, moved his family all the way across the country this summer to take the reins of his high school alma mater in his first head coaching job.

The former four-year starting defensive end at the University of Idaho spent the past 12 seasons as an assistant coach at Colgate University in New York. He’ll set about trying to replicate the success of his own high school coach, Satini Puailoa, who won a state title and was runner up twice in his two tenures coaching the Bulldogs.

Knowles and the Bulldogs open the season at home against 5A Post Falls on Aug. 24. It will mark the first time the Trojans have played in the new Barlow Stadium, which remains one of the premier high school venues anywhere after a brand new stadium was built last year.

WHAT MAKES a great high school coach? There are enough books and opinions written on the matter to fill the Grand Canyon.

While there are certainly plenty of common denominators, the answer is much different for the prep level than college and the pros. Those are big business, where the best of the best either get the job done or get replaced by the next guy who will.

High school football teams are merely a collection of the athletes who attend that school and have the courage to turn out and play a combat sport that requires physicality. It takes a lot of guts for teams like Mullan and Clark Fork, which some seasons have trouble fielding eight healthy players, to line up against the likes of Deary and Kendrick, which usually have 30 plus to choose from, but such is life in the White Star League.

The most successful high school coaches are confidence builders at the root, and this point was driven home by former Sandpoint High School great Jerry Kramer during his recent induction speech into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He told one of his goose bump-inducing stories about his first year under Packers legend Vince Lombardi, about getting berated after struggling in an early practice only to be tapped on the shoulder hours later in the locker room and told he could be the best guard in football.

Kramer said the simple but powerful words gave him “approval and belief.” He then paused and repeated them again for effect, “approval and belief.”

Sage advice for any coach who wants to be great.

Eric Plummer is the sports editor of the Daily Bee in Sandpoint. He can be reached at “eplummer@bonnercountydailybee.com.