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There is a new face leading Mount Si High School football - and a very successful name added to the coaching staff.

After years on Charlie Kinnune's staff, Steve Botulinski was hired last winter to take the head-coaching reins as an alumnus. 

And Botulinski wasted no time securing one of the most innovative spread-offense minds in Washington high school football to coordinate the Wildcats' offense - former four-time state championship-winning Skyline coach Mat Taylor.

Taylor, 47, the only coach in state history to lead a school to five consecutive Class 4A title-game appearances (2008-2012), stepped down at Skyline following the 2019 season.

"Am I a little rejuvenated?" Taylor said. "Sure. I don't have to deal with administrative stuff (at Mount Si). I can just go out there and coach. I love offensive football, and that is all I have to worry about."

Taylor took over the Skyline program in 2008 after longtime coach Steve Gervais retired. And he immediately won, claiming four 4A titles in his first five seasons (2008-9, 2011-12).

In his 12 seasons leading the Spartans, Taylor was 116-33 - and was honored with the Gatorade national coaching excellence award in 2017.

But after posting a three-win season in 2019, Taylor decided to step down "to be a father more" to his two sons, Jackson and Cole, who are part of the Mount Si football pipeline.

Over the winter, Taylor said he reached out to Botulinski about joining the staff if the Mount Si defensive coordinator was hired as the new coach.

"I've been a 'Wildcat Dad' my whole life," Taylor said. "And we hit it off. And he called me as soon as he got the job."

One of the elements Taylor enjoyed during spring ball as a coordinator that he didn't worry about as a coach: Teaching his version of the spread offense from square one.

His quarterback room consists of a trio battling it out for the starting job in senior Cyrus Turley, junior Tyler DeCola and ninth-grader Jacoby Schmidlapp.

"This has been super fun, because I've never installed a new offense ... with a new group of kids other than at a couple of All-American games," Taylor said.

Both of Taylor's sons are on the team, too: Jackson, a junior, is a wide receiver and safety. Cole, a ninth-grader, will be on the offensive line and a linebacker.

"We're just trying to build a base, and continue to grow," Taylor said.