Christenson steps down at HHS

The Havre High football team will have a head coach in 2015, it just won’t be Jason Christenson.

Speaking with the Havre Daily News Monday night, Christenson confirmed that he had submitted his letter of resignation and will not return to lead the team for a sixth season.

“As a head football coach, there are a lot of intangible things that you have to do and take care of. And there were some areas where I wasn’t doing such a great job in and wasn’t improving,” Christenson said. “It wasn’t necessarily the X’s and O’s part of it. I think I still have a lot to offer as a coach and people that know me and understand the game of football would agree with me. It was just more of the administration part of it. Dealing with budgets and purchasing. Dealing with parents, media, and trying to organize certain things. It was those things that I was not doing in a timely fashion and not improving on, so it was time to step away and go in a different direction.”

Christenson, who graduated from Havre High in 1991 and was an All-State defensive lineman for the Ponies, spent five seasons at the helm for HHS and in that time compiled a 25-25-1 record. He led Havre to the playoffs in all five of his seasons as the head coach and made it as far as the Class A state semifinals in 2011. He also served as defensive coordinator for former head coach Troy Purcell and was on the staff in 2004 when the Ponies last captured the state championship.

“Jason coached for us in 2004, then he left us and he came back and gave us five good years as a head football coach,” HHS Activities Director Dennis Murphy said. “It’s appreciative that he came back to his alma mater. That is something that’s tough to do, go back to a place you’ve been before. He did that and did an admirable job for us and we appreciate it.”

Following the 2004 season, Christenson joined Mark Samson’s staff at Montana State University-Northern. He was an assistant for the Lights for five seasons, before being hired to replace Kevin Sukut as head coach of the Ponies in 2010.

Christenson got off to a great start as Havre’s head man, leading HHS to the playoffs in his first season and the Central A conference title in his second in 2011. The Ponies were 7-4 that year and beat Hamilton 30-14 in the quarterfinals of the playoffs before falling to Dillon in the state semifinals.

Another bright spot of Christenson’s tenure was a 21-19 win in the playoffs over Miles City in the opening round of the 2013 playoffs at Blue Pony Stadium. Havre would lose on the road to Columbia Falls in the quarterfinals the next week to cap a 5-5-1 season.

In what turned out to be his final season as head coach, Christenson led the 2014 Ponies to a 4-6 record and a third-place finish in the Central A. Havre was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs after losing 48-47 in overtime at Miles City.

“I’ve truly enjoyed every one of the kids I’ve coached,” Christenson said. “I have enjoyed trying to be a positive influence on their lives. Some of the kids I have coached still come up to me and tell me ‘thanks for coaching me and for all that you’ve done,’ and that’s what makes it special. These kids that are coming up and playing, they are winners and they are good athletes. They are going to be tough and it doesn’t matter who is coaching them. They are going to be champions. They know I will always be there and will always support them. It just won’t be from the sidelines. But, I’m going to miss them. I still love Havre football and Havre High. None of that changes. I just made some mistakes and it’s a learning process. You just need to try to learn from it and get better and try to move forward.”

As for the now vacant position of head football coach, the process of finding a replacement will begin in the near future, but Murphy said at this point no timeline has been set.

“We have a process that we go through,” Murphy said. “There are some policies and procedures that we need to follow. It will be listed in house for a few days after the school board meeting on the (Jan.) 13th. It’s early right now, but the nice thing about it being early is that if people are interested in coming to Havre High School, it gives them some time to think about it and prepare for that.”

Murphy was not able to elaborate on any possible candidates at this point because someone cannot be considered for the positon until they apply. But, he did talk about the qualities that he is seeking in a head coach.

“Number one, you are looking for someone with experience, I think that helps,” Murphy said. “You also want someone who has had some success. You are looking for those kind of guys. You are looking for someone who is enthusiastic and wants to come to Havre High School. And someone who wants to bring our program to the next level.”