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Ross named football Coach of the Year

by Matt Baldwin / Whitefish Pilot
| December 17, 2015 9:00 PM

An already remarkable year for Bulldog football keeps getting sweeter.

Whitefish head football coach Chad Ross has been selected by his peers as the Montana Coaches Association Class A football Coach of the Year.

Ross and his staff led Whitefish to its first State A football title in 36 years, topping Dillon 17-13 in the championship game in November.

Whitefish took a team-first approach in overpowering the league this season with a bruising defense and a fleet of offensive weapons. The Dogs outscored opponents 479 to 83 en route to an 11-1 overall record.

“A big part of our success this year was due to the environment Chad created in the locker room,” said Whitefish athletic director Aric Harris. “You really have to give him credit for fostering that team-first and family-first mentality.”

Bulldog football has steadily improved since Ross was named head coach in 2010. The Dogs struggled that first season with a 1-7 record, but sneaked into the playoffs in 2011 with a 5-3 record. Whitefish tallied its first playoff win in a decade in 2013, and the next season the Dogs made it all the way to the semifinals.

Harris praised Ross for building a strong rapport among the players and coaches in this year’s championship run.

“He’s a player’s coach,” Harris said. “It’s not about him. It’s about the team. The coaching staff is very cohesive and that starts with him.”

Outside of the year-round duties of head football coach, Ross also serves as coach of the freshman boys basketball team.

Ross moved to Whitefish in 1997 after coaching high school football in Tucson, Ariz. He served as a Bulldog assistant coach under both Mike Ferda and Patrick Dryden. In his college playing days, Ross was a longsnapper for the University of Arizona.

Other football coaches selected as Coach of the Year for 2015 include Troy Purcell from Class AA Bozeman, Les Meyer from Class B Fairfield, Scott Friede from Chinook in eight-man, and Scott Sparks from Denton/Geyser/Stanford in six-man.