Clockwise, from left, are Kyle Nelson, Michael Golden and Jerry Helm.
Everything’s beginning to fall into place.
While nothing is 100% set in stone until the school board approves the hirings, Coupeville High School Athletic Director Willie Smith is rapidly filling open coaching positions.
On the heels of Emily Stevens and Amanda Jones being offered cheer coaching positions — https://coupevillesports.com/2017/05/11/alumni-return-to-coach-chs-cheer/ — CHS has tabbed new assistant football coaches and a new girls head soccer coach.
Jerry Helm and Michael Golden will join second-year man Brad Sherman as assistants to Wolf gridiron coach Jon Atkins.
Meanwhile, Kyle Nelson will pull double duty, adding the girls soccer squad to his duties with the Wolf boys.
Nelson joins CHS tennis coach Ken Stange as the only coaches to be in charge of two varsity programs at the school.
Approval of all five hires are on the agenda for Monday’s school board meeting.
Coaching jobs still open include high school boys basketball (head and assistant coach), high school volleyball (assistant coach) and middle school girls basketball (head coach).
Nelson, who replaces Troy Cowan, has been the Wolf boys head soccer coach since 2014.
He inherits a girls team which went 8-7-1 last season and should return a solid core in Mia Littlejohn, Sage Renninger, Kalia Littlejohn and Lindsey Roberts.
Helm is CHS royalty, a four-sport star in his time in the red and black before graduating in 1998. He is a captain with Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue.
To find out more about his story, check out this “Where Are They Now?” piece I wrote a few years back:
On the track or at work, Jerry Helm blazes a successful path!!
Of the new hires, Golden is the one most in need of an introduction.
A native of Alabama, where he played and coached football, he moved his family to Whidbey last fall to bring his startup — http://wolf-tek.com/ — closer to the bustling West Coast tech community.
Golden’s wife Laura is a published author who works with Random House, and they have two sons, Cade and Tanner.
Both are following their dad, but in different ways.
Cade, who trains with Seahawks QB Jake Heaps, “is a lover of all things football and carries a football everywhere,” while Tanner is “a young tech genius who’s already writing software code and likes to write like his mother.”
Golden grew up in Pell City, Alabama, following a family tradition which saw his grandfather, dad and brother all embrace gridiron life in a state which loves football and then some.
“I’ve always had a passion for football at a very young age and carried a football everywhere I went until I was 30,” Golden said.
He was a QB for Pell City from 1991-1993, and continued playing for local teams while focusing on academics while in college at Gadsden State and Auburn University.
While playing in the Birmingham Metro League, Golden got the coaching bug, which has carried him through highly-successful stints with little league, middle school and high school teams.
That included a ten-year run with Pell City, a 6A high school which went to the playoffs every year.
His love of football and technology have always meshed well.
“I love studying plays and trying to figure out how to outsmart our opponents,” Golden said. “I look at myself more as a football engineer or architect.
“I believe in ‘build the offense or defense around your team, not the team around the offense or defense’.”
Golden also believes in putting in the work, both as players and coaches.
“I truly believe fundamentals and correct techniques are the success of any championship program,” he said. “I also believe in having fun and being a good role model for the kids.
“I want to help kids not only be successful on the field but also be good students in the classroom.”
While he and his family have only been in Coupeville for a relatively short time, they’ve already come to love their new home.
“Last year I coached with the locally famous Bob Martin on the middle school team,” Golden said. “Bob is one of the best coaches I’ve worked with and I truly appreciate all his hard work.
“I really appreciate the warm welcome this lovely town has given us over the last year,” he added. “We truly appreciate being here and can’t wait to get more involved in the community.”
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