Coupeville Sports

Willie Smith, having handed over athletic director duties to Brad Sherman, prepares to scamper away.

Old office, new boss.

With the start of a new fall sports season arriving Monday, the change at the top of Coupeville school athletics became official-official.

Wolf grad Brad Sherman, who doubles as the CHS boys’ basketball coach, is now firmly entrenched as the high school/middle school athletic director.

And the former boss, Willie Smith, who is doing one more year as a teacher before fully hitting the road, is free to run wild in the waning days of summer, with nary a single schedule change to contemplate.

The times, they are a ‘changing.

But the focus remains the same.

“I would like to carry forward what Willie and Ron (Bagby) have done over the years,” Sherman said of his former coaches, men who were also his predecessors in the AD chair.

“Their commitment to our kids and the culture they helped build are very important,” he added. “I would like to help lead all of our programs to a very high level.”

Sherman’s grandfather on his mother’s side, Ernie Dire, was a longtime AD for Everett schools, and his service is commemorated in the office where his grandson is now beginning to write his own story.

On the wall of the office Sherman inherited from Smith, there is a display linking athletic letters from Everett and Coupeville schools, a daily reminder for the new man in charge.

As a true man of the prairie, having grown up in Coupeville as part of a farming family, Brad Sherman has been a vital part of Wolf athletics at every level – athlete, coach, and now administrator.

With his own four boys, wife Abbey, and a vast sprawling network of family in place to support him, the new AD was built for this job.

“There is no place I’d rather be than here,” Sherman said, as he deftly juggled scheduling changes, coach and parent interactions, and pesky reporters, before later capping his day with an appearance at the booster club meeting.

“I love the quote – make the big time where you are,” he added.

“It’s not just about wins and losses, it’s about building a strong culture, to benefit these kids in whatever they do in their lives. That’s the goal.”