Olympia High taps former Bethel football coach Iddins as next athletic director
Mark Iddins stepped down from coaching football at Bethel High School after the covid-shortened 2021 spring season, citing a desire to spend more time with his two kids. He wasn’t able to stay away from athletics for long, though. He coached quarterbacks for Nick Mullen’s Olympia High School staff last football season.
He must have liked wearing the blue and white. Iddins was hired this month as Olympia High School’s next athletic director, replacing Bob Kickner, who left to take the AD job in the Kelso School District.
“I really think it’s the best sports community in the South Sound,” Iddins told The News Tribune. “(Most of) their programs were in the state tournaments the past couple years, they get a ton of buy-in from the community. They take it seriously. Sports matter to them. I really just thought it was a good fit for what I’m used to.”
Iddins, who has been a social studies teacher at Bethel and most recently at the Mukilteo Virtual Academy, spent seven seasons as the head coach at Bethel, leading the Braves (now the Bison) to three state tournament appearances in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Bethel made the playoffs in five of Iddins’ six full seasons (there were no playoffs in the 2021 covid-shortened season) at the helm. He attended Kamiak High School, before playing junior college football in California, then transferring to Montana State.
Iddins has been an athletic director before, serving as both the head football coach and AD at Broadview in Montana before moving back to Washington and taking the Bethel job.
There’s a proud tradition of winning at Olympia High School, one Iddins hopes to foster.
“Our programs here are great,” said Iddins, who lives in the Olympia area. “We have great coaches here. My goal is not to get in the way, keep doing what we’re doing, continue to raise the bar.”
The Olympia baseball team won the 2022 Class 4A state title, beating Puyallup in the championship game in Pasco. The Bears’ boys basketball team took second in state last winter, meeting 4A SPSL rival Curtis in the 4A state championship game at the Tacoma Dome.
Iddins said he hopes to see the football team turn into a contender again, too. The Bears haven’t made the state playoffs since 2011.
“Our numbers is a huge (factor),” Iddins said. “We’re competing in the toughest conference in the state. To compete in that conference, you need numbers. Right now, the big push is getting more kids out. … Sumner, Graham-Kapowsin, they’re 125 kids-plus. That’s my goal, to get our numbers to that level. … Nick, everything he’s doing is on the right track.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2023 at 12:05 PM.
