Archive for Sunday, March 30, 2008
Shawn Baumgartner
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Shawn Baumgartner
Hayden football coach Shawn Baumgartner's life is laid out in his office. Tucked into a corner of the Tigers' high school gymnasium, he can talk football for hours, especially because the five-year coach is no longer also in charge of the basketball team.
He looks the part of a football coach while discussing his most successful season - not with the sun-dried wisdom of Bear Bryant or Lou Holtz, more the fierce eyes and cut jaw of Jon Gruden.
His coaching idol, UCLA basketball legend John Wooden, is represented through a biography on a bookshelf over one shoulder, and his family - the impetus for his decision to give up basketball and one of the reasons he figures to stay in Hayden for the long haul - is represented in a string of photos along the wall.
Baumgartner, 34, coached the Tigers to a 9-3 record in 2007, bouncing back from early losses and pulling a big upset in the Class 1A playoffs to advance to the state semifinals. The run capped Hayden's fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs under Baumgartner.
The Tigers should return a talented team for 2008, but Baumgartner, now free to focus all year on football, is wary of everything up to over-confidence.
One thing the 2007 Class 1A coach of the year is not worried about is moving on from Hayden.
"A lot of people have asked me if I've ever thought about going somewhere else. Moving up, it seems like the natural thing," Baumgartner said. "I don't plan on leaving, though. I definitely want to make a home here.
"We're not stuck here because we chose to be here. We're definitely happy."
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