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--> --> SOU head coach Jeff Olson talks to his troops following Saturday's 54-10 victory over McKendree College. Ashland Daily Tidings/AMY ALONZO In Olson they trust By Bobby Heiken Ashland Daily Tidings Six years ago Jeff Olson was named the interim coach of the Southern Oregon University football program. Olson's motto at that time was to give the Raider program a touch of "respect and class." Six years later Olson has kept that motto and this week his seventh-ranked Raiders (9-1) prepare for fourth-ranked Carroll College at 1 p.m. Saturday in the NAIA quarterfinals at Raider Stadium. "To me it's important the mindset people have when they talk about our program," Olson said. "After that I had a feeling the wins would start to come." Olson has done things his way and no one is complaining. The former Raider defensive back has cleaned up a program, produced a winner and has won the respect of his colleagues and players. "He has a heart of gold," Raider offensive coordinator Matt Sayre said. "He's here for his players and not for any other reason. If he says he's going to do something, he's going to do that and everyone respects him for that." Olson has had a lasting impact on all of his players and that's exactly the way he wants it. "I want this program to have a family atmosphere," he said. "From the scout team to our stars, everyone is important. Nobody is bigger than the program. And you are a member of this family for 365 days a year." Olson is 34-22 at SOU (No. 4 on the school's coaching list) and the Raiders have now won 22 of their last 29 games. The success is also coming out in the form of academics. Since Olson has taken over, 88 of 94 seniors have graduated and of those six that haven't, three are currently in school working toward their degree. "Both on and off the field Jeff's taken the program to the next level," SOU athletic director Phil Pifer said. "Academics, citizenship, talent-wise everything has improved. That's just the type of person Jeff is. He's a quality person. He was as a player, he was as an assistant and now he's doing it as a head coach." "It's his overall attitude," said senior defensive lineman Kodiak Malmstrom, who has been with the Raider program for five years. "More than a coach he's a father figure. Our personal life is just as important as football. He cares about our classes and about our life when we get out of SOU." SOU defensive back coach and former Raider defensive back James Gravelle has seen Olson from the eyes of a player and as a colleague. "It's black and white with Oly," Gravelle said. "There's no beating around the bush. He tells you what he expects and the players really respect that. One of the best characteristics about him is that he hasn't changed his style." Olson handles his assistant coaches with as much class as he handles his players. Much of that stems from being an assistant coach at SOU from 1983 to '95. He doesn't wear headphones on the sideline. He lets Sayre call the offense and defensive coordinator Roger VanDeZande run the defense. Of course he's there with suggestions, but he lets them do their thing. "If you trust them enough to give them a title, then let them go and do the work," he said. "One of the things I liked least about being an assistant was that people were always looking over my shoulder. It's a matter of mutual trust. Matt, Roger, Tom (Powell) and James have all gotten better as coaches and that's what we aim for. We can always be better, including myself." Both Sayre and Gravelle are young coaches and respect Olson for the way he's handled them. "It felt good for him to have so much faith in me," Sayre said. "I had some growing pains, but he let me work through them and go out and coach. He's someone you want to do well for. There are some coaches you want to do well for because you're afraid of the coach. But with Jeff it's because you believe in what he's doing." "All of the coaches here like working for him," Gravelle said. "He gives you responsibilities and then he lets you go to work. If you do good he gives you the credit and if something goes wrong then he shoulders the blame." Through it all Olson has remained even keel about the last six years. "I learned a long time ago that if you ride that emotional high, sooner or later you are going to come back down," he said. "When you are high you've got to appreciate it and when you're low you've got to work hard to fix what's wrong." While he doesn't say much, he has been known to take the ride on the high side of the emotional wave. In 1998 when his two-year "interim" period was over and Jim Nagel was to take over, Olson took it hard after the team's final game. "I remember walking off the field at Western Washington thinking `I'm not done yet,'" Olson said. "Over the next few months I had applied for jobs and was interviewing, but was always thinking that this is where I wanted to be." Nagel decided to remain at Ashland High and then-SOU athletic director Monty Cartwright removed the `interim' from Olson's title. In 1999 Olson's team went 7-2, but lost on the final week of the regular season and an emotional Olson had to tell his squad they weren't going to the playoffs. And two weeks ago when the Raiders knocked off Eastern Oregon and secured the school's first trip to the postseason in 14 years, Olson broke down after the game on a radio interview as he remembered all of the hard work of his coaching staff and players. "This is what it's all about, getting to this level," Olson said. "But we can't be happy now. We've got to continue to grow and keep getting better." For Olson and the Raiders that means in all walks of life. Email your... 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