Olympia’s Bill Beattie to be next Tumwater football coach, pending approval
Bill Beattie, who has coached at Olympia High School for 22 years, has been recommended by Tumwater to be its next football coach.
Beattie’s hire is still pending approval by the Tumwater School District, Olympia principal Matt Grant said Saturday.
“It looks like it’s headed that way, is what I would say,” Grant said.
Tumwater athletic director Tim Graham could not immediately be reached for comment.
Beattie said he was offered and accepted the position late Thursday. Grant emailed Olympia employees with the news Friday morning, and Beattie said he briefly met with players.
Beattie said the decision was tough, and a lot of tears were shed as he told players he would be moving on. He has a career record of 163-63 at Olympia.
“It’s truly a special place, and one I’m going to miss,” Beattie said. “There’s another chapter that moves on for me personally, and for them at Olympia.”
Upon approval, Beattie will replace storied Tumwater coach Sid Otton, who retired at the end of the 2016 season as the winningest high school football coach in state history.
Beattie played for Otton for four years in the 1970s. Otton’s first year at Tumwater was Beattie’s freshman season.
“He’s a special individual to me, and I know I wouldn’t have been doing this profession if it wasn’t for the experience I had with him,” Beattie said. “It feels like it’s natural, and the right thing to do if I can help out in continuing the Tumwater tradition.”
Olympia administration will begin its search to find Beattie’s replacement on Monday with meetings. The position will be officially posted at a later date.
“It’ll be a transition, it was very hard,” Grant said. “Twenty-two years is a pretty emotional transition for the kids, the coaches. He’s an institution here.”
Olympia 58, Emerald Ridge 50: The Bears converted five of six free throws in the final minute to hand the Jaguars their second Class 4A South Puget Sound League loss.
Olympia never trailed after Luke Kiley opened the scoring with a 3-pointer.
Hunter Sipe and Lucas Bowser each contributed 13 points for the Bears.
Olympia (11-6, 9-4 4A SPSL) remains in fourth place in league play. The 4A SPSL has six allocations to the West Central District tournament.
This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 8:46 PM with the headline "Olympia’s Bill Beattie to be next Tumwater football coach, pending approval."