South Whidbey football is returning to its roots as it rebuilds.
Former head coach Mark Hodson, who helped lead the Falcons for more than a decade, will be back at the helm next season.
He replaces Michael Coe, who resigned after posting a 1-18 mark in two years at SWHS.
Hodson will be the third head coach in four seasons, as former college coach Chris Tormey, who preceded Coe, only hung around for one 2-8 season before heading to the Canadian Football League.
South Whidbey, which hosts Coupeville in its season opener Sept. 1, has been a program in turmoil recently.
The Falcons went as low as 14 active varsity players at times last season, which forced it to be the first in a line of teams that forfeited to eventual 2A state champ Archbishop Thomas Murphy.
SWHS has now taken an indefinite leave of absence from the 1A/2A Cascade Conference and will play an independent schedule in 2017.
Hodson, who was the league’s coach of the year in 2007, helped lead the Falcon program for 14 seasons before resigning in 2014.
Some of that time involved working with Andy Davis as a co-coach.
The quick turnover in the last three years has been unusual for South Whidbey.
Prior to Hodson taking the Falcon job in 2001, SWHS had gotten a 19-year run from Mick Heggenes and a 30-year stint from coaching legend Jim Leirer.
Hodson played high school football at King’s, then went on to be a member of the 1987 Pacific Lutheran University squad which won a national championship.
He coached at several colleges before settling in as a teacher and coach in Langley.
Great pic David.