Former Olympic standout hired as Kingston High School head football coach

It's rare for a 25-year-old to earn a shot at being a head football coach at the high school level.

For Ethan Goldizen, he's getting that opportunity at Kington High School -- where a rare situation left the Buccaneers without a leader just weeks before practice begins.

A former standout football player at Olympic High School, Goldizen this week accepted an offer to lead the Buccaneers' program. He spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, where he played football before graduating in 2020.

“My goal was always to get back into the high school realm and try my best to get back to Kitsap County," Goldizen said. "That’s where I started my career.”

Not often does a high school football program enter the month of July without a head coach, but that's where Kingston found itself after not one, but two coaching resignations. When former head coach Billy Russo resigned in January, the school spent four months in search of his successor before hiring Ron Earp in mid-May. Earp's tenure lasted three weeks before he suddenly resigned due to family obligations. Assistants Levi Andrew, Louis Gaulden, Joe Hedstrom and Jared Kikel have been running the team's off-season training sessions since Earp's departure.

When Kingston athletic director Ed Call reached out to Goldizen to gauge his interest in coaching the Buccaneers, desire met need and a match was found.

"High school is really where I want to be," Goldizen said.

"I hope we have our coach for the long term," Call added.

A multi-sport athlete at Olympic High School, Goldizen helped the Trojans win the Olympic League 2A title during his senior season in 2015 as a starter at receiver and defensive back. It was his 80-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown catch that helped Olympic knock off North Kitsap 17-14 in Week 9 to secure the league crown.

Calling that play one of the top highlights during his tenure at Olympic, Trojans head coach Sal Quitevis Jr. said Goldizen exhibited coaching traits in high school that should serve him well at Kingston.

"That's something I saw from the get-go. He was always a student of the game," Quitevis said.

After his playing career with the Loggers concluded, Goldizen wrapped up his undergraduate studies in 2020, majoring in exercise science and minoring in business.

“I knew I wanted to teach, I knew I wanted to be involved with helping people," Goldizen said. "The first avenue to do that was coaching.”

While working toward his Master's degree in teaching at UPS, Goldizen spent three seasons as a position coach, working with receivers and running back. He began the summer planning to be back with the Loggers — until Kingston came calling.

With six weeks to go before the official start of preseason in mid-August, Goldizen is going to prioritize assembling a coaching staff and meeting his players. Figuring out coaching roles and offensive/defensive schemes can wait.

“I'm trying to build relationships with as many as people as possible," Goldizen said. "I really want to build deep relationships first.”

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Ethan Goldizen, an Olympic grad, named Kingston head football coach