Football notebook: Slye not giving up on Franklin

He walks away this year from the program he has known for more than three decades, from the place he arrived in the fall of 1971, just a student-teacher looking for a job.

Joe Slye saw virtually everything as a football coach at Franklin High School, from league titles and state-playoff games to winless seasons and competitive imbalances. He coached several future college and professional stars, won 92 games in 20 seasons and led the Quakers to seven state-playoff appearances.

Two weeks ago, he retired.

Recently, during a wide-ranging conversation in his locker-room office, Slye, 55, reflected on his career and offered his thoughts on the current state of Franklin football.

He told of how his career started when on his first day of work then-head coach Brennan King approached him and told him to be on the field at 2:40 p.m. for practice. Slye said he never intended to coach, but after that day, he never stopped coming.

He talked about his introduction to experiential education, and how that led him to make the offseason bicycle trips, the mountain climbs and the visits to the ropes courses, unorthodox staples of his program.

He spoke of his mentors, men such as O.L. Mitchell, Byron Johnson and Mickey Naish.

Much has changed since those early years. The climb has been increasingly uphill for the Quakers since they joined the KingCo 4A Conference along with Garfield and Roosevelt in 1997. During that time, Franklin has posted a 15-52 overall record. The Bulldogs (14-54) and Roughriders (11-57) haven't fared any better.

Only Ballard, which joined the conference in 2002, has managed a winning record among the 4A city schools, going 19-8.

Slye said several factors have contributed to the slide. But chief among them has been the gradual decline in support from parents, community members and local business leaders.

"Those are probably the three biggest things that we had going when I first got here," Slye said. "It just seemed like everybody rallied around us."

He said local businessmen used to come to the program asking how they could help. If the coach said he needed footballs, they'd write a check for footballs.

Slye said he doesn't see that sort of support anymore, noting that it started diminishing shortly before Franklin moved from the AA (now 3A) Metro League to the AAA (now 4A) Olympic League in 1995. Garfield and Roosevelt also made the jump with the Quakers.

Instead of playing local competition, the Seattle schools suddenly were competing against such teams as North Kitsap (Poulsbo) and Port Angeles.

Other things have changed at Franklin, too, as several money-making programs for athletics have been altered or discontinued, according to Slye.

The coach said some of the money made by campus vending machines, for example, used to be diverted to the athletic budget, as was money from the sale of ASB cards to student-athletes.

He said neither program has been in place for years. Of late, Slye said he has relied heavily on the generosity of former players such as Corey Dillon and Jesse Chatman, both running backs in the NFL.

"They've given me money," said Slye of those men and others. "That's the only way I've kept it afloat."

Nevertheless, Slye remains optimistic about the future of the program.

He refuses to believe Franklin cannot eventually compete with its Eastside foes. And he puts little stock in the notion that a coach needs 100 players at turnout to field a winning team, saying the same result can be accomplished with about one-third that number.

But he admits much work must be done. Relationships must be rebuilt. Parents must show more interest. The team must find a greater connection to its community. And the players must dedicate themselves more in the offseason.

Outside the Franklin locker room, a new era is dawning. Mario Bailey, the former University of Washington star and Franklin alumnus, has been named Slye's interim successor. Several other former Quakers also are on staff. Slye said he thinks these men can return the program to prominence.

"Without a doubt," Slye said. "I think it's going to happen."

Notes

• There's extra incentive for both teams when Stanwood (3-1 overall, 3-0 league) visits Arlington (4-0, 4-0) tomorrow night in a WesCo North game. Last year, for the first time since 1998, Stanwood won the Stilly Cup, a trophy awarded to the winner of the annual rivalry game. If Stanwood wins, no problem, the Spartans keep the cup. But if they lose, they'll have to hand it over during a pep assembly at Arlington.

• Lake Washington (4-0), ranked fifth in Class 4A, could match its best start in 40 years with a KingCo 4A victory over Roosevelt (1-3) tomorrow. The Kangaroos last started 5-0 in 1964.

• Seattle Lutheran's first-ever football team won its first game on Monday — 8-0 at La Conner's junior varsity. The Saints, who lost to Cedar Park Christian's junior varsity in their opener, play their first varsity vs. varsity game Saturday at Quilcene.

• There's a Seattle tie to the first-ever night football game for Lacrosse-Washtucna. Tthe two-time defending B-8 champions will play Prescott tomorrow night at Washtucna under lights that used to be at Miller Playfield in Seattle. Those lights were made available when the Seattle Parks and Recreation Dept. decided to put new lights at Miller Playfield.

Lacrosse-Washtucna boosters hauled the lights to Eastern Washington and completed the project this week.

Staff reporter Michael Ko contributed to this report.