Whitefish selects Brett Bollweg as next football coach
Whitefish High School football will soon have a new coach at the helm — Brett Bollweg.
The former assistant coach will take over as head coach, pending school board approval, the team announced via Twitter on Saturday. Bollweg succeeds longtime coach Chad Ross, who stepped down in February after 24 years with the program with 12 of those as head coach.
This will be Bollweg’s first head coaching job, but he has been with the team for several years. He is a Whitefish Middle School physical education teacher and played Division III college football at Bethel in Minnesota.
Bollweg has spent his time with the WHS team coaching running backs and defensive backs, taking over defensive play calls in 2012.
Bollweg will have a veteran coaching staff and several key returning players. Standout quarterback Fynn Ridgeway is set to return for his senior season along with all-state selections Ty Schwaiger, Ryder Barinowski and Kai Nash, among others.
“I just feel fortunate, really lucky to play a role like this in these guys’ lives,” he told the Daily Inter Lake over the weekend. “And it’s not me, it’s the coaching staff that gets the opportunity, and we’re looking forward to it.”
Last year the Whitefish team went 7-3 overall, starting the season with a seven-game unbeaten streak, before falling in the first round of the Class A state playoffs to Frenchtown. It was the team’s best season since 2015 when the Bulldogs brought home the state championship.