Wollan Waltzing into Coaches Hall of Fame

It’s not hard to see how things turned out this way, but Bob Wollan still found himself surprised when the call came through.

After a 22 year prep football coaching career that included 181 wins and nary a losing season, Wollan will be inducted into the Washington State Football Coaches Hall of Fame later this week. The ceremony will take place on Saturday evening at the Bellevue Hilton.

Wollan retired in early 2018 after 12 seasons at the helm of W.F. West football and says he’s just been trying to enjoy his newfound spare time until his phone rang a couple months ago.

“It was a real surprise. I hadn’t really given it much thought at all until I got a phone call from Greg McMillan, who’s a part of the Washington State Coaches Association with the football guys,” said Wollan, who’s not quite sure who nominated him for the designation. “It kind of caught me off guard more than anything. I just felt really humbled and honored at that time.”

Wollan is a 1979 graduate of Centralia High School. During his dozen years leading the Bearcats on the gridiron Wollan compiled a record of 96-38 while reaching the round-of-16 state playoffs 10 time. His team also qualified for the state semifinals in 2011 for the best finish in program history.

During Wollan’s final season as the head honcho at W.F. West in the fall of 2017 his son Nole, a senior, served as the team’s quarterback. On Saturday Nole will once again lend a hand to his father when he delivers the official introductory speech for his old man at the Hall of Fame ceremony.

Bob Wollan said the idea germinated after some brainstorming between his wife, Teresa, and Nole in the days after he received the word that he’s Hall of Fame-bound.

“It got brought up and I thought, ‘You’d be my number one choice, so if you want to do it, let’s do it,’” said the elder Wollan.

Wollan’s coaching career began as an assistant at Rochester High School in 1989. He was eventually promoted to head coach in 1996 and compiled a 52-18 record over the next seven seasons. After heading east for Pullman High School for three years, Wollan was able to guide the Greyhounds to an overall record of 33-5 including a 2A state championship in 2005, before returning to Chehalis. All told, Wollan wrapped up his head coaching career with a .748 winning percentage.

Aside from all that sustained winning Wollan says that the true reward for his efforts on the field has been the long list of relationships he has been lucky enough to foster over nearly three decades.

“Other than my dad the guys that have had the greatest influence on me in my life was my coaches, the guys I played for. And that would go all the way back to my Little League coaches,” said Wollan who still speaks regularly with coaches from the old school. 

Of his own charges, he says former players like brothers Tanner and Mitch Gueller stand out because they were able to find sustained success on the gridiron after high school. However, he noted that plenty of other players have managed to capture a piece of his heart over the years even if they proved to be more Rudy Ruettiger than Russell Wilson.

“It’s been really fun watching all the guys figure out their journey and what they’re going to be. I don’t think people honestly realize how hard college football is,” Wollan said. “Just the commitment and the amount of work that they put in and the academic part of it also. There’s just a lot that goes into it.”

Since he hung up the whistle and headset Wollan has been finding new ways to spend his time but football never bounces too far out of his peripheral consciousness.

“It was really different. More than I realized. I got to watch a lot of football in a lot of places,” said Wollan, who noted he even got out to watch the Gueller brothers air it out for Idaho State University in the fall. “I still miss Friday nights, though. That one kind of gnaws at your gut. I miss that part of it for sure.”

Wollan made sure to tip his cap to the litany of coaches that helped him learn the ropes along the way including Centralia stalwarts Ron Brown and Tim Gilmore.

“They all had an impact. You pull a little bit from all of them,” explained Wollan, who started coaching as an assistant under Hal Gronseth at the end of the 1980s before working alongside Phil Zukowski in blue and gold for the next half decade. “I really hit the jackpot with being able to coach with Phil Zukowski and being able to see how it’s really supposed to be done.”

Wollan’s good fortune followed him when he moved back to the west side from the Palouse in 2006.

“I was really fortunate to have a great staff. We just had some great people out there coaching and helping out,” said Wollan. He listed Dick Boesiger, Tim Cade, and John Olson as key assets to getting things in line in those early years in crimson and gray. Wollan was also assisted by Billy Peterson, who died in 2011, during all three of his head coaching stops.

“Those guys were a big part of what we did at Rochester and just having them on board when we started at Chehalis helped us a lot,” stated Wollan, who added praise for the help Marty Marquez and Chris Johnson provided on the sideline along the way.

In 2006 W.F. West made it to the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual state champions from Lynden.

”The first one we walked into a really good group of kids who were really hungry and bought into what we were trying to do,” said Wollan.

Among all the winning teams it’s tough competition to stand out. In 2009 the Bearcats compiled an undefeated record before falling to Archbishop Murphy in the quarterfinals and in 2011 the Bearcats fell to Lynden 17-7 in the semifinals before the Lions won themselves another state title.

“We’ve had some really good teams and had a chance to do some real damage,” said Wollan.

Those warm feelings amplified during Wollan’s final years with the Bearcats when he was able to coach a group of kids who he watched grow up alongside his son Nole.

“These last couple of years have been really special because all these people are really close,” explained Wollan. “It was like walking kids out the door just because we’ve been around each other so much.”

Wollan said that the community support that he received locally throughout his career is one of the things that sticks out to him in retrospect.

“People got excited about football around here. Just the evolution of Twin City Youth Football and the Junior Bearcats, a lot of people got involved and excited about it. There’s a lot of interest at that youth level, but what was best for me was just to see how excited our student section and fans got on game nights. It was kind of a celebration the whole day, it really was. Kids were excited about football and friday nights especially when we played at home,” said Wollan. “You know it’s special when you see trailers and motorhomes lining up along the street outside the stadium on Wednesday before we play a home game. I think kids want to be a part of that but they also feel a responsibility too.”

Wollan also extended his appreciation to the athletic directors he has worked for throughout the years including Scott Chamberlain and Jeff Johnson at W.F. West, along with Mike Davis in Pullman and Jack Erwin in Rochester. 

“I feel like I’ve worked with some really good bosses. Guys who really got it and we were on the same page. The more they took care of for us it allowed us to stick to coaching,” said Wollan.

In a true veteran move Wollan saved his biggest praise for his wife, Teresa, calling her his “unsung hero.”

“Coaching isn’t every just about the coaches. This could have never happened without family support,” Wollan said.

The Washington State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame award dinner and ceremony will be held at the Bellevue Hilton on Saturday evening. Tickets cost $20 at the door. For additional information email washcoach@gmail.com.