After a four year hiatus, Tony Umayam has returned to Terrace as the head football coach. Umayam was previously the coach for 11 years until he resigned  to spend time with his kids and avoid coaching burnout. He sees the time off as a positive overall, citing the opportunities he had to be around his family and focus on other aspects of his life.

Umayam has high expectations for the team that he will resume coaching over the coming years. 

“I want to get Terrace back to the point where the school, community and alumni can be proud of the team, to be consistently in the postseason and playoffs,” Umayam said.

The Hawks have not been to the playoffs since 2014 under Umayam’s coaching, but that is still a primary goal. As a part of working toward this goal, Umayam appreciates the dedication of the team in terms of improving at a quick pace and showing up with their full dedication.

Additionally, Umayam would like to thank the seniors who were honored on the senior night celebration on October 4. He said that the seniors have been nice and easy to work with even through the coaching change, and he appreciates their openness.

In terms of prospective players, he said that turnout is always a focus; he and the staff believe that every player who is eligible or should be playing needs to be out training with the program as much as possible. 

Sam Howe, a sophomore on the varsity team, said that he can see the team making a solid run during the playoffs in future years.

“Once we are able to fill the final pieces we need, we will be there easily…of course winning state is everyone’s goal, it’s mine too. Overall though, I just want to play a whole lot of football in the next few years and hopefully make it to the next level,” Howe said. 

Howe also said that along with the new staff there have been some big changes to the program, but that, overall, Umayam’s style of coaching has been good for the team. According to Howe, Umayam has been able to consistently set up the players for success during their games.