Upham steps down as Braves football coach

Flathead High School is looking for a new head football coach after Matt Upham stepped down from the position this week, after two seasons.

Flathead activities director Bryce Wilson announced Upham’s resignation with a short press release Thursday afternoon.

“Matt was able to help the Braves make it to the state football championship game in 2018,” Wilson noted. “Matt is looking forward to new opportunities for himself and his family. As the Flathead program moves forward, we will continue to strive on building a quality football program at Flathead High School. “His work ethic, time commitment, and dedication to the program truly was exemplary.”

Upham came to the school as a math teacher and assistant football coach to Kyle Samson in 2015. He took over as head coach in 2019 when Samson left for a job at Montana Tech.

The Braves went 2-8 and 0-7 in Upham’s two years at the helm, after running up a 24-19 mark the four previous falls.

“I felt I wasn’t doing a good enough job up here for these kids,” Upham, who will remain at Flathead as a math teacher, said Thursday. “Me, personally, I just needed to step away and give someone else an opportunity, because I think there’s a lot of talent here.

“I’ll step aside and maybe a new guy can get that fire going again.”

Upham is a Helena High and Carroll College graduate, who played safety and linebacker for the Saints. After college he spent one year teaching in Polson, 2014-15.

Upon his arrival at Flathead the Braves started to make noise, going 6-5 including a first-round playoff loss at Helena Capital in 2015.

“Those kids really battled for us,” Upham said. “We weren’t overly talented but those kids bought in and we were just a really, really good team.

“The year after that we didn’t have much success and then in 2017-18 our coaching staff really buckled down. In 2017 we hosted our first playoff game in quite some time (2005). In 2018 we played our best football for three straight games in November, and those are the games the kids are going to remember.”

Flathead lost the 2018 State AA title game at Billings West, 20-14, and ended up 9-4.

When Samson left, Upham was elevated, but Flathead fell to 2-8 in 2019. Then last fall the Braves went 0-7 in a COVID-shortened season, dealing with injuries and two-week quarantines along the way.

“Not to use that as an excuse,” Upham said. “We had to battle through it. We had to learn about ourselves and how we deal with adversity.

“You don’t realize how important that time is until it happens and it’s almost a third of your season. But I was proud of our kids, and proud of our staff. I felt like we did as well as we could have.”

Upham and his wife, Jenna, have a young daughter. Wilson said a search for Flathead’s next football coach will begin immediately.