Tumwater High School names William Garrow as next football coach, replacing Bill Beattie

The rich history and tradition of Tumwater football are now in the hands of William Garrow.

Garrow, who has spent the last four seasons as an assistant with the Thunderbirds, was announced as the program's next coach this week following Bill Beattie's retirement.

"Honored, humbled, pick your adjective there," Garrow said. "I love it there. I love coaching there, the people that are there, the kids, the community and the way they support the program. It's super meaningful they were willing to give me an opportunity to do this."

Just the fifth head coach in program history, Garrow said he's going to do his best to live up to the standards put in place by the coaches before him.

"There's nobody better. They're incredible people, friends, mentors and coaches," he said of former coaches Bill Beattie and Sid Otton. "If I'm half as good as those guys are, I'm going to consider it a win because they've set the bar for what coaches should be and the rest of us are just trying to reach it."

Prior to joining the Tumwater staff, Garrow was the coach at North Thurston for three seasons and an assistant at Steilacoom for eight years.

Beattie said Garrow had been a great addition to his staff, especially when it came to preparation and technology.

"His work with technology, at least for me, is the best I have seen on a football staff," Beattie said. "He's able to do a lot of that stuff that cuts down the workload for a lot of people and it was such an advantage for the kids."

Seeing an assistant get a head coaching job is always fun, too, Beattie said.

"It's always exciting to see guys take that jump and put their foot in the water," he said. "You're always proud to see that and in this situation it's going to be really exciting for him to continue that T-Bird tradition."

Garrow called Tumwater a special place to be.

"It felt right because of the people that are there and the community," he said. "I would really like my son and my family to be a part of that and experience that because it's unique."

When spring ball and summer practices eventually come around, Garrow is most looking forward to getting after things with the group of people he's gotten to know since he joined the staff.

"I'm super excited to get to work with the assistant coaches on staff who I've become really close friends with the last four or five years," Garrow said. "Being able to continue to do that with the coaches and kids that are there is the most exciting part for me. I'm also excited to be a part of the culture and tradition, but the day-to-day aspects of being a football coach – I'm lucky to be with those people."