According to Bothell High School head football coach Tom Bainter, the culprit to last year’s mesmerizing 0-2 start was a lack of work ethic during practices early in the season.
Coaches addressed this, it’s safe to say the 2009 Cougars will be a different team this time around.
“There is improvement (from last year),” said Bainter, who owns a career record of 80-22 at Bothell. “We still demand a lot from them, and we’re not where we want to be yet… But we’re getting better, improving on a daily basis, and that’s what you want. You just want them to compete in everything they do. They want to, they’re learning how to, and that’s encouraging.”
SIZE MATTERS
The incredibly deep Cougars had a ton of rostered juniors last season that are finally getting a chance to start as upperclassmen, and the result is one of the most formidable lines Bainter has ever coached.
“We’ve got some big guys on the O-line and D-line, and some real good speed and quickness,” he noted. “We’ll do it all, mix it up, but certainly with that line, we expect to be able to run, that’s for sure.”
And perhaps no one was able to run as well as star running back Patrick Ottorbech, whom the Cougars lost to graduation, but Bainter believes he has the answer.
“Ottorbech was the type of kid you get once every 10 years or so. His speed, balance, strength, quickness, he had it all,” Bainter recalled. “But we’ve got a kid (Luke Proulx), who’s as fast as any back we’ve coached, and three other kids who are physical, durable, and can all do the job.”
Junior Mitchell Muller will get the call once again at the quarterback position for the Cougars, having had a successful sophomore campaign with a .643 completion ratio and 16 touchdowns in 2008.
“He’s back and doing a great job, and being a great leader,” marveled Bainter.
The Cougars also feature four key returners on offense, Michael Hartvigson, Evan Hudson, Mitchell Muller and Evan Cooper, and return defensive mainstays Jake Arzola and Colby Burk.
Bothell also picked up a huge addition, literally, in 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman Colin Porter, a Redmond transfer who has committed to the UW Huskies next year.
“We’ve got a good crew of guys that are ready to go,” Bainter said.
“I feel like our team is much more close this year than last year, we’ve all been growing up together, with a lot of returning players,” added Muller. “I feel really confident with our team.”
A WINNING CULTURE
Bainter’s outstanding winning percentage in the past 10 years wearing the Bothell blue (.784) says it all. The Cougars, who appeared in back-to-back state 4A championship games in 2006 and 2007, have a program recognized as one of the best in the state, and for good reason.
Bainter, however, cautions that perennial success may not be the best thing for his kids.
“I don’t know if apathy or complacency is the right word, but sometimes they (are not aware) of the hard work it took the previous teams to get there,” Bainter explained. “I think it’s part good that kids expect to win, but it’s also part bad, because sometimes they take it for granted, that it just happens.”
Bainter’s preseason routine often focuses on the fact that each year is a different team, and that every squad starts the year at 0-0 regardless of how the Cougars have performed in the past.
“Our chore is to try to get our kids to remember that we start all over again, and in order to do what other teams have done, you gotta work like that.”
When asked his goals for the Blue Train’s 2009 campaign, Bainter was hesitant to look ahead.
“We want go get better every day, our saying is ‘you never stay the same, you always get better or worse,” he said. “If we can say we improved today, then we’ll let the chips fall where they may and by the end of the year, we will have achieved our potential.”
