Ross named varsity football coach
Chad Ross has been named Whitefish High School's head varsity football coach for the 2010 season. He brings extensive on-field experience to the Bulldogs sideline, as well as collegiate-level coaching knowledge. Ross replaces Patrick Dryden who stepped down this winter after four seasons at the helm.
Ross was recruited to the University of Arizona in the early 1990s as a linebacker, but due to a knee injury was moved to long snapper. In 1993 he won the Jim Ewing Memorial Award for outstanding character, spirit, leadership and sportsmanship.
After graduation, Ross worked with assistant coach and defensive line coach Rich Ellerson at Arizona. Later, he coached freshman and JV football at a Tucson, Ariz., high school before moving to Whitefish in 1997. He served as a Bulldog assistant coach under both Mike Ferda and Dryden.
Ross's coaching style will be focused around building relationships with players, their families and the community.
"I believe a program built on relationships can weather any storm," he said.
He remembers the relationships he built as a player with his former coaches and says that will influence him as he goes into his first season.
"Ellerson (at Arizona) took such a personal interest in me," he said. "I look at my first high school football coach and remember what a great job he did of building a family-like feel."
That's one of the reasons he initially put his name in the hat as a candidate for the head-coaching job at Whitefish.
"It goes back to how influential my coaches were and how influential we can be in these young men's lives," he said. "More than football, we'll be doing life together. I want the kids to make the right choices in the classroom and on the weekend. I want the football program to reflect the high school in positive way."
Bulldog activity director Jackie Fuller said Ross was selected because he has already put in a lot of time with the program and has shown a dedication to guiding players to become well-rounded men.
"Ross will be great at motivating the players to produce," Fuller said, "both in the community and on the football field."
Ross sees the initial challenge as a first-year coach as getting everyone — players and coaches — on the same page and believing in each other.
"We'll start with the fundamentals, with a day-by-day approach," he said. "You try to get better day-by-day at the little things."
Ross says he hasn't had much of an opportunity to think about what type of offensive or defensive schemes he will implement on the gridiron — that will depend on the players who are recruited.
"We need to see who we have first," he said. "A lot of programs try to fit players to a certain style. But you can't be a running team if you don't have running backs."
Ross will take an inventory of his player's abilities on both offense and defense before enacting any particular style of play.
He expressed gratitude for the support he received during the application process from Fuller, principal Dave Carlson and Dryden.
"I want to thank the administration and my family," he said. "The excitement I feel (about getting the coaching position) from the community is contagious."
Outside of football, Ross and his wife Nadine have three children and own the Dairy Queen franchise in Whitefish.