EUGENE, Ore. — We are gearing up for another exciting high school football season across the state! Several teams in our service area are under the leadership of first-year head coaches, including the Sheldon Irish.

After Josh Line moved elsewhere to become head coach at Willamette, Sheldon named defensive coordinator Tyler Martell as the new head coach.

Martell helped Sheldon to a state championship as a player in 2007, and now the former assistant coach is taking the reins at his alma mater.

“It’s probably going to look a lot like it did in 1997 when Marty Johnson started it. We just tinkered a little bit with what he and Lane Johnson did on defense. That’s what I know. I played on that defense, I ran the defense now for the last seven years with Josh and now I still run it,” Irish head coach Tyler Martell said.

“If we work as hard as we can, it will come out the way it does. The coach always says, prepare yourself,” said Rocco Graziano, Irish senior kicker. “Don’t worry about the end goal, worry about the journey to get there. I think that’s our main focus at the moment and I think we just keep trusting in that and we’ll be fine.”

Veteran kicker Rocco Graziano recently announced his commitment to the University of Oregon, continuing the tradition of Sheldon playing as a star for the Ducks.

The Martell era begins on September 6th when the Irish host Tigard.