Auburn hires former UPS football coach

AUBURN — Gordon Elliott expected to return to coaching high-school football after being fired at the University of Puget Sound last fall.

He just didn't expect it to happen this soon. But when Elliott heard Bob Jones was stepping down as head coach at Auburn High School, he jumped at the opportunity. And Auburn administrators were just as eager to get him on board.

"That we could get someone with that background and enthusiasm for being in our building — he could have applied just about anywhere — I'm very, very comfortable with that selection," said Jones, who resigned after 12 seasons in part so that he could watch his son play at Auburn Riverside next fall. "He is very well respected in every (coaching) circle in the state."

Elliott, 48, coached at the high-school level for 14 years before taking over the program at UPS — his alma mater — in 1994. He said he always figured he'd return to coaching and teaching at a high school when his run at Puget Sound ended. He lost his position with the Loggers after going 0-9 last fall, dropping his record to 16-57.

Elliott, who lives in Puyallup, began teaching social studies at Bethel in January and said he had expected to work as an assistant coach on Eric Kurle's Bethel staff next fall.

"I wanted to wait until I found the (head coaching) opportunity that was right for me and my family," he said. "I resigned myself to being an assistant for a year or two."

Elliott said he had a "mental list" of three or four high schools in the area that he considered prime prospects, should a head coaching position come available. Auburn was one of them. He said he likes the strong sense of community there as well as the facilities.

"Most of all, I wanted a place where they were committed to their co-curricular excellence," Elliott said. "Auburn fit that, and not just from a football standpoint, but with all of their co-curricular activities. There's a difference between support and commitment, and Auburn has that commitment."

Jones and Elliott have been good friends for several years and coached against each other in 1991 and 1992, when Elliott was head coach at Columbia River High in Vancouver. The two schools played a nonleague game in each of those two seasons. Elliott has another tie to the South Puget Sound League's North Division: He is the brother-in-law of Mark Torgerson, head coach at Kentlake. Elliott is married to Torgerson's sister, Sue, and they have two daughters — Amanda, 19, and Jenna, 16. Jenna is a sophomore at Rogers High School in Puyallup. Amanda graduated from Puyallup High and now attends Pierce College in Tacoma.

Elliott is a 1972 graduate of Lake Washington High School, where he played quarterback and defensive back. He went on to play both positions at Spokane Falls Community College for two seasons, then was a defensive back at UPS for two years. His got his first coaching experience in 1977 as an assistant at Cal-Davis, where he was working on his master's degree. Elliott was an assistant at UPS in '78 and '79, then started coaching at the high-school level. He worked as an assistant at Mount Vernon for three seasons and got his first head job at Camas in 1983. After three seasons there, Elliott went to Columbia River as head coach for eight years.

When the opportunity came to become head coach at UPS, he couldn't pass it up.

"It wasn't that I wanted to get out of high-school coaching — I enjoyed high-school coaching very much — but because it was Puget Sound, where I had played, I thought it would fit the things I wanted to do," Elliott said.

Now, Auburn fits and Jones said Elliott wants to do the one thing the Trojans haven't been able to accomplish thus far.

"Our goal has always been to win the state championship, and he has the same goal," Jones said.

Armstrong suspended for 7 games

John Armstrong, head baseball coach at Tyee High School, has been suspended for seven games by the Seamount League for "willful violations" of a WIAA regulation regarding conduct following the ejection of a contest.

Armstrong attended Tyee's cross-over game with Fife last month after being ejected while coaching the Totems' previous game, according to Adam Greve, Fife athletic director and league chairman. State regulations require that a coach not be in attendance of the game following an ejection. The penalty is up to one-third of the regular season (20 games).

The decision was handed down at Monday's Seamount League athletic directors' meeting. Tyee does not intend to appeal the suspension, according to Athletic Director Max Silverman. He said it would be up to the Highline School District to determine if there would be further repercussions for Armstrong, who returned as head coach this spring after missing last season while on administrative leave for undisclosed reasons.

Armstrong now has missed three games this week and will be eligible to return for the Totems' Seamount League finale against Mount Rainier. In his absence, Tim Kline, who had been the junior-varsity coach, is coaching the varsity team. Carl Nielsen, a previous assistant coach, is working with the junior varsity.

Armstrong was not available for comment.

Tyee has a 2-7 league record and 2-10 season mark after yesterday's 16-0 win over Evergreen.