Football coach takes head job at 3A Stanwood

Jeff Scoma had a successful first season as a head football coach, guiding La Conner High to a 4-1 mark and the NW2B spring grid crown, its best showing in several years.

Turns out, Scoma might have been too successful – at least as far as Braves fans are concerned.

The former Bellevue High assistant was announced last week as the new head coach at 3A Stanwood, whose campus has a student enrollment approaching 1,300 students.

Despite the move up in classification, it was not an easy decision for Scoma to leave La Conner.

“I loved La Conner and was really proud of the senior class and the team for creating an amazing season,” Scoma told the Weekly News. “Especially during COVID as we had so many obstacles to overcome.

“There are a very small handful of jobs that I knew I might be interested in down the road in my coaching career,” Scoma stressed. “Stanwood was one of those. In an ideal world it would have been better had that come up three or four years from now and I had the chance to enjoy La Conner much longer.”

Though only at the Braves helm for five games, Scoma’s impact was undeniable.

“If you went to any of our football games this year,” said La Conner Superintendent Rich Stewart, “you saw a disciplined team that was organized and players knew their assignments well.

“Jeff,” Stewart said, “is a perfectionist who developed the trust of his players rapidly. Based on what I observed, he was good at putting players at positions where they could succeed.”

At Stanwood, Scoma follows Eric Keizer, who stepped down from the Spartan program after seven seasons.

“I was thrilled to see this opportunity,” Scoma told Stanwood-Camano News reporter Eric Caldwell. “Every time I’ve been to a sporting event and came across Stanwood fans, I could see the excitement there.”

Scoma commuted to La Conner from his position as a regional sales director for a firm in King County. That commute will now be about a half hour shorter.

Scoma works remotely, often serving east coast clients, allowing him the flexibility to coach high school football.

He served six years as a sub-varsity coach in Bellevue, whose system is studied nationally for its mastery of the Wing-T formation, an offense Scoma brought with him to La Conner and parts of which he will employ at Stanwood.

Scoma was the choice of an eight-member Stanwood selection committee comprised of school staff, coaches and community members. The panel was impressed with Scoma’s approach as a warm demander able to get players to buy into his short-term and long-range vision.

“I love to get to know the kids on a personal basis,” Scoma stressed to Caldwell, “because taking all the things that make you successful in football and applying them to life is one of the goals.

“Football,” he added, “is just a mechanism to take them (the student-athletes) where they aspire to go in life.”

Stewart, who closes out his one-year stay today (Wednesday), said he had hoped Scoma would stay here longer.

“But we’re glad for him and this opportunity,” he said.

Stewart is not sure of the timeline for replacing Scoma but anticipates the district will post its football coaching vacancy soon.