Friday Night Lights: Havre has seasoned coaching staff

From the beginning, Havre High head football coach Ryan Gatch said that building a good staff around him was essential. And thanks to a group of coaches who have a wealth of experience, both on and off the field, Gatch has achieved what he set out to do.

“I think we have a really great coaching staff here,” Gatch said. “We have a lot of years of experience and a lot of great football minds. But these guys are also fun to be around. We have fun around each other.”

Gatch came to Havre this season after previously being the head coach at Forsyth for one season and Lead-Deadwood High School in South Dakota for two. Gatch has also coached for a number of other high schools and colleges such as Minot State, Chadron State, Black Hills State, Dickinson State, Northern State (South Dakota) and Montana State University-Northern.

However, the coach who has held 10 different jobs over the past 15 years said he is looking for a place to call home.

“That’s the plan,” Gatch said.

So far, the new coach has found Havre to his liking and last week, his Ponies got their season off to an impressive start with an 18-6 win over Whitefish, the defending Class A state champion. And one thing that helped Gatch and HHS get off and running this season is a staff that has to rank right up there with any in Class A football.

“I think that we were really fortunate to get the quality guys that we have,” Gatch said. “And a lot of them have ties to Havre High and that was something we were looking for. We want to carry on that tradition of excellence.”

In all, five of the seven coaches played at Havre High. Jason Christenson is one of those coaches. He was an All-State offensive lineman in 1991 and was previously the head coach of the Ponies from 2010-2014. Scott Leeds, who played with Christenson and was an All-State player in his own right, is also back. Leeds also played and coached in the Frontier Conference for nearly two decades.

Another valued member of the coaching staff is Kendall Griggs, who is also an assistant coach for the Havre High tennis team. He played offensive line for the Ponies and earned First-Team All-Conference and Second-Team All-State honors in 1997. Havre lost in the state championship game that season 21-14 to Hamilton. Griggs also played for Northern from 1998-2000.

While there are certainly some veteran coaches on the staff, the Ponies also have some younger blood, too. Jake Criner returns for a second consecutive season after being an assistant to Mark Samson in 2015. The former Glacier High graduate played at MSU-Northern, where he was a versatile player, who saw time at fullback, defensive line and linebacker for the Lights from 2010-2014. He currently teaches for the Havre Public Schools.

Additionally, the coaching staff has two other former Havre football players. Beau Briese, who previously coached for the Ponies back in 2014, returns after a one-year absence. He played for Havre and was also an assistant under former HHS head coach Troy Purcell in Bozeman from 2010-2013.

The last coach and another fresh face on the staff is former All-State offensive lineman Will DeVries, who graduated from Havre High in 2010. He went on to play for Carroll College, where he recently graduated.

"I am blessed to have such good guys working with me," Gatch said. "I think we have a tremendous amount of knowledge and I think we have a good mix of guys. We have more veteran coaches and some younger guys that have lots of enthusiasm."

So far, Gatch and his assistants have the Ponies on the right track. Havre is currently 1-0 and will get another chance to prove itself on the road against a good-looking Hardin team that’s fresh off a blowout win over Browning. Kickoff is set for tonight at 7.