Local Coach. Big Vision. Chris Wright Leads the Charge at Interlake High
From grad assistant at UW to head coach in his own neighborhood, Wright is turning potential into progress on and off the field.
BELLEVUE, Wash. – When Chris Wright left the University of Washington after working as a grad assistant in the football program’s recruiting department, he “didn’t have a direction.”
He had just finished a Master of Education degree through Washington’s Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership program, while working under Husky coaches Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake, and Kalen DeBoer.
Wright knew he wanted to continue coaching, but he wasn’t sure what that opportunity would look like. Then his wife found a job posting for the offensive line coach at Interlake High School.
“Hey, I know you want to get back into coaching, give it a shot,” she said.
He lived down the street from the school, so he applied.
“I fell in love with the program,” Wright said. “I fell in love with the community.”
He started as an assistant for Dante Foster before the coach moved to Arizona. Then he worked under former Washington running back Lavon Coleman last season. Now, he’s the head coach.
"It's going really well so far. It’s a lot of returning faces, which is good, but we’re a really young team,” he said. “Overall, I think we lost about 19 seniors last year, so we’re having to catch a lot of guys up to speed. But I've known these guys for a long time.”
A Woodinville High School graduate, Wright didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year. He spent two years playing JUCO football for Eastside JC, which no longer exists. He spoke to several programs about continuing his collegiate career, but due to injuries, he decided to transition from player to coach.
He started helping out at Eastside JC and then moved on to Washington.
Now, as the Saints’ head coach, he’s reinforcing the framework that will help his players develop, focusing on details while making sure the game stays fun.
The expectation for Interlake players is to be on time and fully geared up. After that, coaches will make sure everyone is pointed in the right direction.
“We have a team motto this year: E.A.T. – Effort, Attitude, and Toughness,” Wright said. “That's the biggest thing. We're a smaller program, so we’ve got to bring a little more juice every day, bring that effort and attitude to make every day a good day.”
Joining Wright on this year’s staff is Myles Rice, who played outside linebacker at Washington.
“He’s a gentle giant,” Wright said. “Man, he knows his stuff. We just watched film today from our D-line guys at the UW camp, and the strides they’ve made since I’ve seen them here, it’s been unreal.”
Making the move from assistant to head coach is something Wright is attacking head-on, and he’s excited about what the Saints are building.
“We are a small school, but we're in such a rich area, in terms of talent, effort, and community,” he said.
Now, the goal is to mold all of that into a program with a solid foundation – and when that happens, the wins will follow.
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