New coach needed at Summit; what?s next for Storm?

By Beau Eastes

Published: January 09. 2012 4:00AM PST

When Jerry Hackenbruck stepped down from coaching football at Summit High at the end of the 2004 season, the Storm appeared to be one of the up-and-coming programs in the state.

Through just its fourth year (the west-side Bend school opened in 2001), Summit?s football program had already advanced to the state playoffs twice. In 2004 the Storm went 7-3, made the postseason in the state?s old four-classification system and recorded Intermountain Conference wins over their two intracity rivals, Bend High and Mountain View.

?People forget we were the top team in the city,? says Hackenbruck, who recently announced he would step down again after coaching the Storm during the past two seasons. ?We had some great years and had a chance to do well in the playoffs.?

For whatever reason, Summit has yet to repeat the success it experienced during Hackenbruck?s first tenure. Since the longtime Central Oregon coach stepped down in 2004, the Storm have gone just 19-48 and have not been back to the playoffs.

Summit showed renewed signs of life this year under Hackenbruck, snapping a 23-game losing streak that dated back to 2008 while finishing 5-5 overall, the team?s best record since 2004.

But the Storm still struggled against its crosstown rivals, falling to Bend High 38-0 and to eventual Class 5A state champion Mountain View 49-12.

But still, the 2011 season was a huge improvement for the Summit football program, which will have to cope with the loss of Hackenbruck once again.

?I do not think there is any inherent reason why Summit should not have a successful football team,? Hackenbruck says. ?It?s bothered me hearing people say because we?re on the west side of Bend our kids are not geared for football. We had some tremendous seasons at Summit early on, in our third and fourth year, and I think it can be done again.?

According to Hackenbruck, the most daunting hurdle for Storm football is not the toughness or athleticism of its players, but the lack of Summit athletes turning out for the sport. This past season, the Storm fielded only two football teams: a varsity and freshman-sophomore team. Typically, schools Summit?s size (about 1,300 students) organize varsity, junior varsity and freshman squads.

?The biggest problem is retention of kids,? says Hackenbruck, who went 15-23 with the Storm from 2001 to 2004 and 5-14 with the team in 2010 and 2011. ?You can coach a kid up, but it?s difficult if they?re not there.?

Summit?s football numbers problems stem from several sources. The team?s record was a combined 0-19 in 2009 and 2010, making football a tough sell in 2011. Also, the program in 2012 will be on its third head coach in four years. Hackenbruck?s successor is expected to be named in the next month.

?The middle school kids coming up, they need to get excited about football,? says Hackenbruck, whose teams went 51-26 at Redmond and Mountain View in the 1980s and ?90s. ?We just didn?t have enough kids this year. Too many were going both ways (playing both offense and defense). We didn?t have enough depth to be a solid football team.

?The reality is, when numbers are low, there?s not that much competition for spots,? Hackenbruck adds. ?You don?t have to work hard to be a starter. At a place like Mountain View, if you don?t work hard for four years, you?re not going to start your senior year.?

Hackenbruck hopes a new coach will be able to sell football to more Summit kids and boost the program?s numbers, ideally back to the point of being able to field three teams.

?We took a big step this year, and I?d love to see the next coach take an even bigger step,? Hackenbruck says. ?There?s nothing wrong with where the school is located (in Bend) and there?s nothing that creates an atmosphere where our kids are softer on our side of town. I?ve been hearing that for the last four or five years and we?re hoping to dispel that myth.?

? Reporter: 541-383-0305, beastes@bendbulletin.com.

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