Coach's Death Stuns Gig Harbor -- After Vandals Damage His Truck, He Dies In Rental Car

Someone vandalized Mike McKinney's truck Saturday morning - broke out all the windows, scraped profanity on the passenger-side door and stole his coach's jacket and some cassette tapes.

So McKinney, head coach of the Gig Harbor High School football team since 1995, rented a brand-new Mustang convertible to get around in.

He died in that convertible, when the car went off Lackey Road in a sharp curve and crashed into a utility pole near his rented beachfront home on the Key Peninsula. He wasn't wearing a seat belt.

There is no indication that alcohol was involved, but speed or inattention could be, according Lt. Dan Eikum, a spokesman for the State Patrol. There were no witnesses, he added.

"This is really sad," said Gig Harbor Police Officer David Crocker, who had spent almost an hour Saturday talking to McKinney about his truck. "It's gonna send this whole town in a loop."

Other vehicles were broken into at the same time, but McKinney's truck suffered the most damage. Police could not say whether the vandalism was aimed at the coach.

Crocker called it "just a tragic coincidence."

District officials, the football team and coaches met yesterday afternoon to talk about McKinney. The players painted a rock at the school with his name. Today, school officials planned to have counselors available for students and staff. Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Haven of Rest in Gig Harbor.

McKinney was a popular, upbeat coach and the Gig Harbor community is starting a college fund for his teenage son, said Judi Cleghorn, Gig Harbor High School vice principal.

"He was a real advocate for the school," she said.

Friday night's game against Central Kitsap High will go on as scheduled, and the football players are going to wear McKinney's initials on their helmets as a tribute, Cleghorn said.

McKinney, 47, loved the outdoors - his college nickname was Grizzly. He liked to go fly-fishing with his 13-year-old son, who lives in Montana. He liked to surf, although it had been a while since he picked up his board.

But McKinney was really about football.

He was the kind of football coach who wore polo shirts every day emblazoned with the school's name. He was the kind of coach who said stormy skies were "great football weather." If you asked him how he was in January, he would say he was bored. "I'm waiting for football," he'd say.

McKinney grew up in California, and played football at a junior college before joining the team at Oregon State University as a defensive back. He was a great hitter, said his college roommate, Steve Gervais.

Gervais, McKinney and four other teammates all went on to coach football. McKinney coached in Montana and in California, before Gervais recommended that he replace him as the coach of Gig Harbor in 1995. His overall record at Gig Harbor was 26-15 and his 1995 team advanced to the state playoffs.

"He loved football," said Gervais, now the head coach at Skyline High School in the Issaquah School District. "He loved the chess game of it all, and calling offense, and trying to find out ways to score points, and he loved working with kids."

While at Gig Harbor, McKinney resuscitated the weight-lifting program. He taught freshman gym. On the field, he favored a passing game, saying that simply running the ball was boring. It took too long, he said.

"He really runs a wide-open offense, kind of a poker-player mentality, like rolling the dice and let's take a shot," said Mike West, the Gig Harbor principal.

McKinney built a tightly knit team.

On Thursday nights, a parent puts on a spaghetti or a lasagna feed. On Fridays, the players wear their football jerseys to school, and then before the game, the team eats together, usually at Round Table Pizza. On Saturday mornings, the team goes to the school to watch videotapes from the game the night before.

That's where McKinney's truck was Saturday morning, parked in the fire lane outside the gym.

McKinney was hopeful about this year's season, but The Tides lost their first three games - each a squeaker decided only in the final minutes.

Principal West last saw McKinney on Friday night on the football field, just after the team lost to South Kitsap High School in a 30-27 nail-biter. West shook McKinney's hand.

"So what do you think about the game, coach?" West said.

"Hey, the kids laid it on the line for me," he replied. "I can't ask for anything else."

Seattle Times staff reporter Dave Birkland contributed to this report.