Kennedy Catholic promotes new football leader from in-house - Pat Jones

He married his Clyde Hill childhood sweetheart. He has deep roots to King County football. And he occasionally quotes martial-arts master Bruce Lee as a way to explain his offensive philosophy.

And now, at 58, Wing-T guru Pat Jones will do something he's never done before: Lead his own program.

Known primarily as the right-hand man to Butch Goncharoff during the Bellevue football dynasty (2001-13), and serving as the run-game coordinator at Kennedy Catholic the past four seasons - Jones was hired as the new Lancers' coach, replacing Cal Poly-bound Sheldon Cross.

Cross, an Air Raid proponent, piled up 55 wins in his seven seasons at Kennedy Catholic, leading the program to its first-ever Class 4A title game appearance in December, losing to Lake Stevens. He was named SBLive WA's coach of the year in the classification.

"I planned on just coaching however many years with Sheldon," Jones said.

But after Cross accepted the offensive-coordinator position at Cal Poly in late December, one of the better coaching jobs in Washington high school football was open.

Jones began talking to other assistant coaches, gauging in-house interest in the position. When nobody expressed interest, he asked how many would stay on board if he applied for it.

"It was unanimous," Jones said. "Many (assistant coaches) would not have stayed on."

So, Jones applied - and was announced as the school's fifth coach in program history Feb. 13.

"It's a long drive from Bellevue, but I enjoy being there and the challenge of it," Jones said, "I really enjoyed last year when we mixed the Wing-T with the Air Raid - or what I like to call the 'Offense of Opposites.'"

Last fall, after Kennedy Catholic's disappointing 2021 district-round loss to North Creek, Cross decided to mesh Air Raid and Wing-T elements together in his offense, allowing Jones to call the offense in those bunched-up run formations.

Jones said that approach will carry over into the new season, but added, "I will run more Wing-T than Sheldon wanted to. We will huddle a lot more than we did, too."

Both principles will still be major factors in how the Lancers attack defenses, Jones said. But he knows for that to be effective, he has to keep the approach simple.

"Bruce Lee had a saying I love: He does 'not fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but ... fears the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.'

"That is, in a nutshell, how I think of (offensive football)."

A 1982 Bellevue graduate who went on to the University of Washington, Jones will enter his 42nd season on a coaching staff next fall.

The last of his eight children - son, Indy - will be a junior fullback with the Lancers' next fall.

(Featured file photo by Vince Miller)