PHOTO BY AUDREY ADAMS

Chief Leschi High School’s new football coach, Sauni Savini, sets his goals high for this year’s players.

New football coach wants to foster new attitude

By Rick Walter

There will be a new coach on the sidelines for the Chief Leschi High School football team, but one thing followers of the team will find out very quickly: his sense of responsibility to his players stretches a lot farther than 100 yards.

Listen to coach Sauni Savini’s goals for the team:

1. Change the mentality of the players.

“At some schools, when a team has not been successful, the players are, well, they might show up, they might not. We want them to know that commitment is important. Not just in football, but in anything you choose to do.”

2. Make good relationships with the kids.

“We are not just coaches teaching a skill, we should be mentors. Kids need to trust us. Building a trust with them is the way you get them to buy into what you are trying to do.”

3. At the end of the season, have the kids to feel good about themselves.

“That doesn’t necessarily just come with winning every game, it comes when you have left nothing out on the field. When you have tried your hardest and done your best. We’ll let them know that is our goal.”

Last year, Chief Leschi won just one game, their homecoming game against Quilcene, and Sauni Savini said in an interview last week that most folks think these two teams will be bringing up the rear again this season.

“One thing I can promise,” Sauni Savini said, “we will be very competitive. When the other teams come to play us, they better bring their helmets.”

Sauni Savini attended high school at Franklin in Seattle and then played at the University of Washington on the Huskies team that went to the Orange Bowl in 1984. He coached the past few seasons at Christian Faith, which dropped its football program this year.

His team will face Seattle Lutheran, Evergreen Lutheran, Tacoma Baptist and Quilcene.

On offense, Sauni Savini will install a variation of the “West Coast” offense, and he thinks it is a system that will allow the athletes on his team to be versatile. This will be a change from Chief Leschi’s team from last year, which ran a veer offense and ran the ball more.

During the volunteer weight training this summer, about 13 or 14 youth were out each day, and the coach thinks that is a good sign.

“They weren’t always the same kids, so it was a good turnout,” he said. “About 44 kids showed up for the interest meeting in the spring, so if that is an indication we should be all right. We have about half our kids from last year coming back, and some freshmen coming up.”

The concern for coaches at small schools who don’t get off to good starts is that kids will start dropping off midway through the season.

“We need to get them to buy into what we are trying to teach. If they trust the system, it will work. That is the tough part, getting them to buy in.”

Sauni Savini will have his defensive coordinator from last season, Kirk Willis, on board with him, as well as assistant coach Ray Williams.

Athletic director Audrey Adams said the school is excited about the new coaching staff and direction of the football team and looking forward to the season.

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