Tyee's Haynie Moves On, And Up, To AAA Coaching -- Totems' Football Savior To Take Over At Sumner

He helped the Tyee football program take gigantic strides. Now, Andy Haynie is taking one of his own.

Haynie is stepping up to become head coach at Sumner High School. He replaces Mike Hagadone, who recently resigned after six seasons to accept the head coaching job at Enumclaw. Haynie spent the past four seasons as head coach at Tyee, a Class AA school in the Seamount League. Class AAA Sumner competes in the South Puget Sound League.

"I felt this was the time for me to move on," Haynie said. "It's kind of been my goal to move up to the AAA level. It's been a good four years at Tyee. This year (1995 season) was probably better than anyone expected, including myself."

The Totems, mired in a state-record, 46-game losing streak just 2 1/2 seasons ago, enjoyed a 7-2 campaign that left them one game short of the state playoffs. It was their first winning season since 1977.

Hagadone had worked similar magic at Sumner. When the Spartans went 9-2 in 1994, they made their first playoff appearance in 17 years. Last year's team finished 4-5.

"Andy is the kind of coach who can bring out the best in our players," said Tim Thomsen, Sumner athletic director. "Under his coaching leadership, the Spartans are sure to enjoy many more winning seasons."

When Haynie arrived at Tyee in the fall of 1992, after five seasons as an assistant at Lindbergh, the football team had not won a game in four years. The Totems went 0-9 his first season and

stretched their state-record losing streak to 46 games in 1993 before finally beating Mount Si. They wound up winning three games that season and Haynie was voted Seamount coach of the year.

Tyee slipped to 1-8 in 1994, then put together the memorable '95 campaign. Haynie became a hot coaching prospect.

"I think he's an excellent coach on both sides of the ball," said Dan Heltsley, who recently resigned as Lindbergh's head coach. "He works well with kids and is a good motivator. I think they (Sumner) made a good choice."

Haynie's success at Tyee was especially impressive considering the small turnouts he faced each season. He often had fewer than two dozen eligible players and finished last season with a whopping 37 on the sideline. But Haynie said he still has high hopes for the program he's leaving behind, despite the graduation of several top players.

"I really expect Tyee to do well next year," he said. "The kids are there. A lot of people think we went 7-2 with one good group of kids, and that they'll be back to the old Tyee. But I think the program has moved past that. There are good kids there. Not a ton of them, but enough of them that I expect them to be back up there again."

Haynie also expects good things in the future from Sumner.

"It's a good community with a good support base," he said. "That's a big thing to me. They want to do well and do some things necessary to be successful."