5A Coach Of The Year's Career Comes Full Circle

If you haven't been around Oregon high school football for 35 or more years, "Cougar who was a Cougar becomes a Cougar again as Turner returns to Turner"  might sound like some sort of riddle. But while possibly surprised, those of us with more Friday nights under the lights than we can count can understand the rhyme immediately.

Steve Turner, the 5A Coach of the Year, who led Mt. View past Marist and Sherwood to the 2011 OSAA 5A State Championship, is returning to where his career started, assuming the head coaching job at 4A Cascade, located in Turner.

The opportunity developed when Karl Elliott, who hired Turner for his first coaching job as an assistant at Cascade, re-retired. Elliott, who had originally retired from Cascade, only to come out of retirement 4 differnet times, including 3 years ago back with the Cougars, will leave a program in the hands of a former player or assistant for the third time.

Turner, who played and graduated from Willamette, did his student teaching at Cascade, and was an assistant to Elliott from 1978 thru 1984, including the Cougar's 1980 State Championship, which began a 5 year run in which Cascade reached 5 consecutive semi-finals.

Turner got his first head coaching job at Rainier in 1985, and coached his first job in that role against Cascade. Turner was at Rainier thru 1987, and was a part of his second state championship team, as Defensive Coordinator at North Medford when the Black Tornado claimed the 1994 OSAA 4A State Championship.

Turner then spent 6 seasons as Head Coach at Crook County, before coming to Mt. View in Bend as an assistant under John Nehl. Turner took over as the Cougars' coach in 2008, and led Mt. View to a 40-7 record in 4 years, including 3 of 4 wins across cross town rival Bend, and an 8-3 record in the postseason.

Turner guided Mt. View to the 5A quarterfinals in his first 2 years, the semi-finals in 2010, and finally, the state championship last fall.

Mt. View upset Marist 31-14 in the semifinals, handing the Spartans only their second loss since moving to the 5A class, and just their third in 48 games, and then went on to defeat defending state champion Sherwood, beating the Bowmen 14-13 to claim the title.

So it came as a considerable surprise a month and a half later when Turner turned in his resignation, and moved back to the westside.

Turner cited family reasons, and a chance for full time employment, as well as returning to a program he has a long, and deep emotional tie with, in an interview with Jay Reese Tuesday on "The Biggest Little Sports Talk Show In Oregon."

Turner's wife lives in North Bend, and while the mid-valley is still a several-hour drive, its still a shorter commute than from Bend, and a mountain pass free one.

Cascade's landing Turner when Sprague has also had an iconic coach retire also took many by surprise. Robin Hill's retirement after 25 years as head coach for the Olympians almost simultaneously with Elliott's retirement opened an attractive possibility at the 6A level. But the combination of his historic ties and the opportunity to also work administratively made the move to Cascade the right one for Turner.

Recent econimic hard times that forced budget reductions in the Bend-La Pine school district has left Turner without a full time position with the district, and an opportunity to work in an administrative position as Cascade was an important factor, according to Turner.

It also allows Turner to again follow Elliott's lead. "Karl is a real class gentleman," Turner explained. "He taught me a lot about the right way to do things."

For much more on Turner's departure, which completed a trifecta of coaching turnover at the Bend high schools this winter, check out Jay's complete report.

Turner's replacement when named will face new coaches at both cross-town rivals next fall.

1993 Bend graduate Matt Craven has been named the new head football coach at his alma mater, and will take over the Lava Bear program after Craig Walker retired after 24 years. And Joe Padilla, an assistant with the Storm football staff, and the head Track and Field coach, has been named the new Head Football Coach at Summit High School in Bend, replacing Jerry Hackenbruck.

(Jay Reese also contributed to this story.)

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