The South Kitsap Wolves football team is searching for new leadership again after Dan Ericson resigned Dec. 21.
The move comes after what Ericson referred to as the team’s “most successful season” since joining the South Puget Sound League. The Wolves finished 2022 with a 2-8 record that did not reflect a number of closer finishes and included a season finale blowout of Kentwood 41-6.
Seven weeks after that win, Ericson said the program was in a better place than when he first came, and it was time for someone else to take over.
“Many experienced players returned, and the program is ready for new leadership to help guide them into the future,” he said. “I will always be disappointed that I didn’t do a better job for SK but am proud of the work that we did to improve the program.”
Ericson was hired in 2019 following eight years reviving a Klahowya program that had suffered two-straight winless seasons before his arrival. By the time he left, he had posted a 46-41 record with the Eagles, including 7-3 seasons in 2016 and 2018. The latter of the two seasons marked the program’s first playoff appearance since 2004.
“I chose to come to SK to help do the same thing,” Ericson said. “Truthfully, I wanted to spend at least 20 years coaching football at SKHS. I wanted to help build a program that the community could be proud of, similar to Ed Fisher and DJ Sigurdson.”
His first season the Wolves finished 2-8 and snapped a long losing streak that had stemmed over multiple years. It was small but at the same time, monumental progress that Ericson hoped would carry into the next seasons. That all changed when the sports world was effectively shut down by the COVID pandemic.
“The time off from school/sports/training definitely zapped our positive momentum of year one,” Ericson said. “We have struggled to get that positive momentum going again.”
Without a full 2020-21 season to improve off of, the Wolves went 0-9. The 2022 season showed some improvement, but not enough.
“I want to thank the SKSD for giving me the opportunity to serve this community through football,” Ericson said. “It didn’t work out how I envisioned, but that’s OK. Ultimately, I think that I have learned that it is definitely OK to follow your gut, take some chances, and go for it, even if it doesn’t work out.”
Ericson will continue to serve South Kitsap High School as dean of students for the class of 2025.
