White River hires football coach Jeff Zenisek away from Thomas Jefferson

Jeff Zenisek won in college football, then at a Class 1A high school and last year at a Class 4A one.

How about 2A?

Zenisek on Monday was introduced as the next football coach at White River High School in Buckley, saying this was the reason he resigned from Thomas Jefferson on Friday.

“This just came up,” said Zenisek, who added that he was attracted to how close White River is from his home in Bonney Lake.

“I literally wasn’t looking. We had a good group of kids coming back and were really dedicated and lifting. It’s just one of those things that popped up.”

Zenisek takes over for Joe Sprouse, who resigned earlier this month after going 23-37 in seven seasons at White River.

White River athletic director Chris Gibson said he tried to reign in his excitement when he told players and parents on Monday that they’re adding a coach who had led Central Washington University to an NAIA national football title.

“He has a presence about him that is going to breed success,” Gibson said. “Our parents and our players are kind of excited. I know the coaching staff is ready to get to work, and Jeff is ready to get to work.”

Zenisek spent the past two years as the coach at Jefferson, and this past fall led the Raiders to their first outright league title in school history, winning the 4A South Puget Sound League Northwest. He was selected as The News Tribune’s football coach of the year.

Before that he had won an NAIA national championship at Central Washington in 1995 — coaching former Seattle Seahawks quarterback and Lincoln High graduate Jon Kitna.

Zenisek later took over at Tenino High School and coached the school to a league title in 2013 — which was its first since 1986.

“With him, his wealth of experience he has — being at programs at different levels — we were really attracted to that,” Gibson said.

“To me, there’s no better coaching job than a one-high-school town,” Gibson said. “I think that’s huge. You go to your middle school and you know where those kids are going to high school.”

Thomas Jefferson was 7-3 under Zenisek this past season, losing in the district playoffs. White River was 1-9.

But Zenisek said he plans for White River to eventually be giving 2A powerhouses such as Tumwater, Lynden and Prosser runs for state titles.

“That’s what you want to build, ideally, is that kind of program like Sid Otton has done at Tumwater,” Zenisek said. “One kids can be proud of and the expectations are there every year.

“When I interviewed at Thomas Jefferson the goal was to win championships and to go to the Tacoma Dome. And that’s what we’re shooting for here.”

This story was originally published June 20, 2016 at 8:09 PM with the headline "White River hires football coach Jeff Zenisek away from Thomas Jefferson."