Aland out as Flathead football coach

Flathead High School, coming off a winless season this past fall, is again looking for a new football coach after Caleb Aland was dismissed last week. 

Aland told the Inter Lake he learned on Thursday he was out; Flathead activities director Matt Allison made the coaching change official Monday in a press release. 

“Coach Aland brought consistent leadership to our program during his three years as head coach. His work ethic and dedication to rebuilding the program was impressive — I’m not sure if someone could have out-worked him,” the release said. “Coach Aland has made some improvements in our facilities and has worked diligently to connect with middle school athletes.  

“We will be looking to hire a head coach that can build on the solid foundation that we currently have — talented assistant coaches and next year’s returning players.” 

Aland took over for Alex Cummings in the spring of 2022 and his first team went 1-8. The second trended up to 2-7, but this past fall early-season suspensions contributed to an 0-2 start, and the Braves fell in Belgrade by a 3-2 score. Close losses to Missoula Sentinel (25-23) and Hellgate (21-14) followed, and they finished 0-9. 

Aland made it clear that he wanted to stay on the job. 

“I love the kids in our program and was fortunate to be their coach the last three years,” he said in a text to the Daily Inter Lake. “There is a lot of talent in the next few classes and I believe the program is in a better place than when I got there. 

“Lastly, I am sad the Flathead coaching carousel continues. They will be hiring their fifth football coach in a seven-year span.” 

It has been a rocky six seasons since 2018, when coach Kyle Samson guided the Braves into the State AA championship. Flathead lost 21-14 to Billings West, and Samson soon took an assistant’s job at Montana Tech. He’s now head coach for the Frontier Conference power. 

Samson was succeeded by assistant coaches Matt Upham (2-17 in two seasons; Upham has been on Grady Bennett’s staff at Glacier since 2021) and Alex Cummings (0-9 in 2021; Cummings left to become assistant principal at Kalispell Middle School). 

In his release, Allison noted things could be on the upswing in 2025-26. 

“We are also excited about our incoming freshman class next (year),” he wrote. “Flathead High School will always be dedicated to inspiring champions today and developing the leaders of tomorrow. We will lean on our greatest strength in our school to help us through this transition — our staff and students. 

“The process for hiring a new head coach will begin in January.”