Samson, Braves attack offseason
It may be May, and spring practice for college may be over, but August will be right around the corner and it will be time to gear up for high school football in the Flathead Valley. I spoke to Flathead football coach Kyle Samson about the team and how they are doing during the offseason.
Nach on Sports: How are the team and you doing during the offseason?
Kyle Samson: Doing well, the kids are working hard. They come in every morning and lift. (I’m) just super excited about 2017 and the opportunities we have and the potential we have. The kids have really bought in this offseason as far as the weight room, the agility workouts, and speed workouts. A lot of our guys are competing in other sports and doing a great job in those sports.
NOS: What’s the most exciting aspect of the upcoming year?
KS: The most exciting aspect of this upcoming year is we will have 30 seniors and last year we had 11. So, that’s a big deal. We will have a lot of kids coming back that have game experience. We have a group of kids busting their butt in the weight room.
NOS: Let’s talk about going up and fixing the “F” on the hill above Bibler Gardens?
KS: It was something that was brought to me by one of our parents in the Touchdown Club. Michelle Moore and her family have been through Flathead High for many years and her father was one of the first up to the “F.” She talked to me about it and we got 25 of our guys up there. We are in three phases: we are cleaning it all up, moving stuff to open up a little bit and picked weeds up there. We had a lot of help from alumni that came up and helped us out. Our next phase will be to go up there and repaint it, get all the rocks repainted and the last phase, want to get some solar lights put up so at night it will light up.
NOS: I saw the Bobcats and the Griz coaching staffs in town. What are those meetings like?
KS: It’s cool, myself being a former (college) coach (at MSU-Northern), used to do the same things they’re doing. It’s a good chance to meet some new coaches, meet new people you have never met before and then I always talk to them about one thing every year. They’re here trying to talk to our kids, see what we have to offer for our kids for next year’s class and the year after that. It’s fun, it’s cool that you get the whole circuit in May where all the coaches from 1-AA schools, Cats, Griz, the Frontier (Conference) schools come through. (It) gives our kids a chance to talk to them and learn the recruiting process.
NOS: Let’s talk about these new home uniforms. When do we get to see those?
KS: We have them and are trying to figure out the best way to do it. (I’m) super excited to get back to our black home uniforms. The kids are excited, something we’re definitely looking forward to in the first game against Butte High coming up Aug. 24.
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Anthony Nachreiner is the voice of Flathead High School athletics. For more interiews like this, listen to The Nach on Sports Show every weekday from 3-5 p.m. on 600 AM KGEZ and 96.5 FM.