The high school football season in Idaho begins on Aug. 23. So to get you ready, we’re counting down with at least one local team preview every day until kickoff.
Up next: Marsh Valley Eagles
2023 IN REVIEW:
2-8 (second place in 3A South East Idaho Conference)Lost 38-16 to Weiser in first round of Class 3A playoffs
COACH’S RESUME:
Head Coach: Jared Michaelson, first seasonOverall record: 0-0Assistant coaches: Andy Iverson, Brad Schroeder, Keith Lolofie, JC Hatch, Brandon Hope, Jeremy Branson, Jordan Reed
RETURNING STARTERS:
7 on offense7 on defense
Jared Michaelson hasn't coached a high school game in 12 years.
But he still just might finally be the one to bring winning back to the Marsh Valley High School football team. It’s something the town of Arimo has been waiting more than a decade for. Even longer if you count the program's lone state championship 20 years ago.
“It’s exciting. I never thought I’d ever be back, especially coaching football,” said Michaelson, the Eagles new head coach. “I thought I’d be in Boise my whole life. But I don’t think I could ask for a better place or a better opportunity to get back into high school football.”
It’s Michaelson’s first time being back on the Marsh Valley sidelines since his playing days in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. The 2001 graduate was an all-league player for the Eagles before taking his talents to Mayville State in North Dakota.
He then made his coaching debut at Melba, serving as the defensive coordinator and the offensive and defensive line coach. But Michaelson left following the 2011 campaign.
Michaelson still had no plans to get back into high school coaching even with his move back east to Pocatello in 2021.
But a chance encounter at a restaurant changed all that.
“I just went to dinner and one of the assistant coaches from last year happened to be there. I didn’t even know Marsh Valley was even looking for a coach,” said Michaelson who was coaching youth football in the area. “He said, ‘Hey, Marsh Valley is kind of looking for a head football coach.’
“So I decided it would be something worth pursuing. I put in my resume, went through the interview process and here we are.”
Michaelson is the third head in four years.
Jeff Belnap was fired in January even after getting the Eagles to the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years last season. But he was unable to end the string of losing seasons and lackluster performances in the postseason.
Marsh Valley is currently in the midst of five consecutive losing seasons and has produced just two of them since 2011 − the year of its last playoff win. Since going 6-3 in 2018, the Eagles are 13 games below .500 at 16-29.
Facts that Michaelson is fully aware of.
“We’re trying to just kind of change the way they look at football in general. Showing success, not necessarily as wins and losses, which obviously that’s why we’re there, but finding small success first to build on to lead us to some wins,” Michaelson said. “They seem to be embracing that, which is hard to do when you have kids who are on the third head coach of their high school career. So it can either be the here we go again mentality or they can really kind of accept what you’re trying to do and help start changing the culture there. And I think these kids are really doing that. I think we’ve got some good stuff we’re building on.”
Having most of their players back from a year ago helps with that.
After splitting reps last year with Keaton Belnap, who has since transferred to Highland, senior Cooper Bowman has the starting quarterback job all to himself this season.
“Man, he’s got a great head on his shoulders. I think that’s going to really help us because he makes good decisions and he’s pretty secure with the football,” Michaelson said. “So we’re pretty confident having him kind of lead the guys on the offensive side of the ball.
“I think him getting to learn and split time last year, maybe took a little pressure off of him. But boy, we’re putting the pressure right on him this year because there’s no splitting time. He’s the guy.”
Bowman should also benefit from having a stout backfield.
Seniors Bo Larsen and Christian Hinrichs are both back. They will be joined by fellow senior Wyatt Marshall, who is a "heck of an athlete,” according to Michaelson.
“I honestly think we’ve got the best backfield in 4A if we can just get something together on the offensive line to help them be successful,” Michaelson said. “So that’s what we’re going to work on for the first three weeks of the season, is getting those linemen where they need to be.”
Senior Easton Roche will help with that.
Fellow senior Kaden Hansen will be Bowman’s top target at tight end. He’ll also be one of, if not the team’s best pass rusher this season at defense end.
“You talk about an athlete. He’s quick and he’s physical. His favorite thing to do is rush the passer. That’s a kid you want,” Michaelson said. “You can basically throw him the ball and he’ll catch anything that gets within six feet of him with that wingspan. So that’s a pretty good kid to have."
Senior Eli Hadley and junior Seth Bartschi, who was the kicker last year, will join him in that receiving corps.
Bowman (safety), Larsen (safety), Hinrichs (defensive end/linebacker) and Roche (defensive lineman) will all play on the defensive side, as well.
So will all of it lead to the Eagles finally turning a corner?
"I think we may actually surprise some people this year and have a little success in the win column,” Michaelson said. “It would give these kids something to build on.
“If we can come in and be successful and establish a pattern of winning, we’d really start putting a program together. I think that’s what they’re looking for. They just want some of that winning tradition back at Marsh Valley. Because Marsh Valley is not too far removed from being a dang good football program.”
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