‘Both feet in’: Yelm football coach holds meet and greet with public

The Rex Norris era at Yelm High School has officially begun.

After spending a week with players and current assistant coaches, including a jamboree at Pacific Lutheran that served as the finale to spring practice, Norris made his public debut in front of around 70 students, coaches, parents and fans at the Yelm High School Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, June 24.

The veteran coach spoke for just under an hour, guiding the audience through a big-screen presentation that highlighted his program philosophies, both for football and academics.
To begin his speech, Norris commended the coaches who stayed on for spring practice, saying they “did some extraordinary things” given the unique off-season circumstances. Norris said he found the assistant coaches to be welcoming and said the team was energetic and competitive.

Norris, 59, spoke about his decision to take the head job at Yelm, saying it had to be something “much greater than just going and coaching.”

“I needed to find a place that felt like a good fit,” Norris said, adding this is his seventh school he’s been a part of. Norris said this job offered a special opportunity to be around a community, staff and players that all want to compete and do it the right way.

“I want to hold up a standard that you’ll be proud of and something that these kids will be proud of,” Norris said.

“I truly think that football is a special thing,” Norris said later. “And it’s not an easy thing. It’s an opportunity that people in the program get to learn lessons about themselves and about life that they won’t learn in other situations — how to push themselves, how to be a teammate… how to have discipline, how to sacrifice.”

Norris outlined his major tenets moving forward, promising to uphold traditions while establishing new ones to help the team evolve. He also pledged to support student athletes.

“One of our goals is to make Yelm the best athletic experience for our players, of everything they’ve ever experienced,” Norris said. “If that’s our goal, if we can achieve that, that’s a pretty big deal. If they can leave our program sad that it’s over, not sad that they lost, then we figured something out right. And then hopefully we’ve shown them what to do when it’s their turn to do those same things when they go off into society and start giving back into programs like one.”

Norris expounded on other core values like commitment, hustle, respect, discipline, class, loyalty, and courage, providing numerous examples throughout — like players showing the courage to ask for tutoring if they are struggling in a subject.

“You are always one choice away from changing your life, whether it’s meeting your best friend, or your wife, or trying something you’ve never done before,” Norris said, adding that his choice to become Yelm’s new football coach has dramatically changed his life — and his family’s — in the last five days.

“I’m going to demonstrate that just like I’m going to ask (players) to do the same thing,” Norris said.

When it came to discussing on-the-field play, Norris talked about the program’s five ongoing goals to win at different levels: stay undefeated at home, win a 4A SPSL league championship, make the state playoffs, get into the state finals, and win a state championship.

Norris emphasized that beyond winning, it’s about competing.

“You can win a football game and be mad at your performance, because you beat a team, but that’s not the deal, you didn’t play at your standard,” Norris said. “Beating that team has nothing to do with it anymore because you have a standard that you’re going after. Same thing with losing, you can be proud of the fact of how you competed, even though you lost, because you gave everything you could and did everything you could for that.”

The head coach said he wants to limit two-way starting as much as possible and develop depth, and that the best players might not necessarily be the best athletes. Norris also values multiple-sport athletes, and said he’s a proponent of using a tough non-district schedule to improve a team.

Norris encouraged any athlete who was interested in playing football to come and talk to him, calling the summer an “open enrollment” period.

When asked whether he would alter the playbook, Norris said he was evaluating and to expect some changes, but expressed that he wants the senior class to be able to play as “fast and free” as possible.

The head coach talked about being around football his entire life. His father, also named Rex, coached in college and the NFL, including as a defensive coordinator at Oklahoma under Barry Switzer, along with stints as a defensive line coach with the Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers, Chicago Bears and others.

Norris concluded by inviting those in attendance to come up and introduce themselves, adding that his wife was also in attendance.

“We’re both feet in,” Norris said.

The first day of Yelm football’s summer workouts began on June 30. The team’s first preseason meeting is scheduled for Aug. 16. Fall practice begins Aug. 20.