Auburn Riverside tabs Steilacoom coordinator Herd as next head football coach
The Auburn Riverside High School football program has its next head football coach, hiring Steilacoom offensive coordinator Greg Herd ahead of the 2020 season.
Herd, who played for Steilacoom in the late 2000s and went on to a prolific career as a receiver at Eastern Washington University and a stint in the NFL, takes over for Marcus Yzaguirre, who left to take the Federal Way job.
“It was something that crept upon me,” Herd said. “It’s been a goal since high school. I knew I wanted to be a PE teacher and a football coach. After being on some great staffs at Steilacoom, Wilson and North Thurston, I feel like I’ve been prepared and mentored by those head coaches to really be in a situation where I can step out on my own and find some growth in my life as well.”
It would have been hard to blame Herd for sticking around a bit longer at Steilacoom, his alma mater. Last season, the Sentinels advanced to the Class 2A state championship game, boasting a prolific offense, led by five-star recruit Emeka Egbuka and three-star quarterback recruit Chance McDonald, who will return this fall for their senior seasons. Steilacoom’s offense averaged 423 yards and 44 points per game last season and figured to post similar stats this fall.
Steilacoom’s appearance in the state championship game also marked the first time the program moved beyond the state tournament quarterfinals in the school’s history.
But Herd, who coached receivers at North Thurston in 2016, quarterbacks at Wilson in 2017 and served as Steilacoom’s offensive coordinator from 2018-19, wanted to step out of his comfort zone.
“A lot of people I’ve spoken to after the season, everyone reverted back to the talent that’s returning to Steilacoom,” Herd said. “That’s a big attraction, the relationships I’ve built with those players and all the hard work and belief they’ve put into me, I felt indebted to them and to that program.”
Herd said it was an aunt who convinced him to apply for the Auburn Riverside job.
“She told me, ‘You’re so stuck in your ways that you might not see it’s an opportunity for growth,’” Herd said. “It opened my mind a lot more, didn’t focus on the cons as much as I did the pros.”
Among the pros Herd saw are the administration and school culture at Auburn Riverside High, which opened in 1995.
“The administration there is awesome,” Herd said. “They understand the power that athletics have on a building.”
Herd, who played for a high-flying offense at EWU under Beau Baldwin and helped lead Steilacoom’s air raid offense, alongside head coach Colby Davies, said the type of offense Riverside will run will depend on personnel.
“First step, getting in there and evaluating the talent, figuring out the best scheme to fit the different talents of individuals we have there,” Herd said. “Whatever suits our personnel best is my plan right now.”
Auburn Riverside plays in the Class 4A North Puget Sound League. Last year, the Ravens posted a 7-2 record, falling to Bothell in districts, 52-19.
“I just want to give a special thanks to the Steilacoom community for helping me grow, being a part of that journey,” Herd said. “I’m forever thankful to be a part of that group that made history.”
