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Pirates tab Crowston as football head coach By GREG STILES The Phoenix Pirates dipped into North Medford's rich pool of assistant coaches recently with the selection of Gordy Crowston as the Pirates' next head football coach. Crowston, 44, signed a contract Tuesday. He will also be a vice principal at Phoenix High. "He's a progressive coach, who plays an attacking style from both sides of the ball," Phoenix principal Bruce Rhodes said. "He's an intense coach with a positive attitude. I guess I'm ready to see us have an aggressive style out on the field and that's the way we see Gordy." Crowston succeeds Joe Hagler, who resigned after compiling a 32-49 record in nine seasons. Both Hagler and his predecessor, Harry Mondale, were assistants to Ron Williams, who guided the Pirates to state championships in 1979 and 1985. Crowston hopes to revive the winning ways of the past, but will jettison the Spin-T, long associated with Phoenix football. "I want to build on the tradition they've had in the past and also start something new," said Crowston, who guided North Medford's junior varsity team to a 41-12-1 record in six years. Crowston says he became enamored with the possibilities when he read a Mail Tribune story about the school's sagging football fortunes. "I was fascinated by that story," Crowston said. "Phoenix has had a proud tradition. What they need is someone to come in with some enthusiasm, that loves kids and will get the program back on track." At the same time, Crowston saw that he could achieve another one of his career goals when he applied. "I decided two years ago that I wanted to get into administration," Crowston said. "Normally, the coaching string plays out when you do that. But when the Phoenix situation came up, it was an opportunity to stay involved with kids, the sport I love and still meet my career education goals. It was too good to pass up." Other than changing campuses, the biggest change will be leaving the classroom. "It will be a big transition for me," Crowston says. "I've been in the classroom for 22 years. History is my passion and it will be tough to leave all that behind. It's bitter-sweet to leave North. But I'm excited about going to Phoenix and starting something new." Rhodes said Crowston's administrative role will come in handy. "His aggressive style can pay off in two ways," Rhodes said. "As vice principal for discipline, he's going to have chance to get to know kids. You may not get to know them real deeply, but you get to know a lot of kids. He'll have a chance to be visible in a lot of ways." Another attractive thing, Rhodes said, was Crowston's stability. He already lives in the district (near Orchard Hill Elementary School) and will likely be around for a while. "He's not someone, who is going to be here a couple of years and then move on," Rhodes said. "He seems to be a stable guy to build a program around." Crowston was the Black Tornado's girls basketball coach for five years before joining the football staff. His JV teams had three-game winning streaks against both Ashland and Roseburg. Crowston also scouted a lot of Southern Oregon Conference football on Friday nights and learned a lot about coaching schemes. "You get to see what a team is trying to do on both sides of the ball and that gives you an idea what you can do to beat the system," he said. Crowston said Brent Bowker, another North JV coach, has agreed to be his defensive coordinator. During an 11-year tenure at Rainier High, Crowston served as head baseball and girls basketball coach and was a football assistant. He grew up in Vernonia, where he earned all-state and honorable mention All-America honors as a quarterback and outside linebacker. But at Mount Hood Community College, then ranked among the nation's top programs, he suffered a neck injury that ended his playing days. For a while, after the injury he left football behind. But eventually he was asked by Steve Turner, another former North assistant, to coordinate the offense at Rainier. "That," Crowston said, "kind of lit back the football fires." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.