Whitefish selects Bollweg as next football coach

Whitefish High School selected its next football coach Thursday, and the backstory for Brett Bollweg lines up nicely with the man he’s replacing.

Chad Ross came to Whitefish 25 years ago, bought a Dairy Queen, joined the Bulldog coaching staff, eventually began teaching and after 12 years as an assistant, became head coach.

Bollweg moved in 15 years ago for a job at Young Life, joined the Bulldog coaching staff, became a junior high PE teacher and now, he’s head coach.

“Chad and I and Scott Strellnauer coached freshman football,” said Bollweg. “Chad was the second guy I met here, after the guy that hired me (at Young Life).”

Ross stepped down after 12 seasons with a 62-53 record, including the Bulldogs’ landmark 2015 State A championship, its first since 1979. The cupboard is not bare: All-State picks Ryder Barinowski, Ty Schwaiger and Kai Nash are set to return, along with standout quarterback Fynn Ridgeway — his supportive tweet about the hire hit Twitter Friday — and defensive lineman Montana Cohenour.

It will be Bollweg’s first head coaching gig, pending school board approval, and he’s excited.

“I just feel fortunate, really lucky to play a role like this in these guys’ lives,” he said. “And it’s not me, it’s the coaching staff that gets the opportunity, and we’re looking forward to it.”

The 37-year-old played football at Division III Bethel in Minnesota (Ross played at the University of Arizona), after growing up in Wheaton, Ill. Bollweg spent three years teaching special education before turning to physical education seven years ago.

Bollweg has coached the running backs and defensive backs at Whitefish, and took over the defensive calls in 2012.

“We’ll do a lot of the same things,” he said. “We have some dynamic players coming back and some really young dynamic players that don’t have the (varsity) experience yet.

“We’ll be using our playmakers to make plays. We’ll be a disciplined team that does things the right way. We have some special talent in the locker room right now.”

Bollweg appreciated Ross, a close friend, for empowering him and the rest of a veteran coaching staff the past several seasons. Like Ross, he knew he wanted to coach, but didn’t know what the future held: He figured he was in Whitefish short-term in 2007, and now he’s been married 11 years and is raising four kids.

“I think my kids were more excited than anyone else when I got the job,” he said. “They’re my No. 1 fans and I’m theirs. It’s a pretty fun deal.”

Next up are some Friday Night Lights.

“We have a younger group of guys that’s fun to watch, and I’m excited to see what they can do.”