Auburn Mountainview football preps for season under first time head coach

After the 2023 season was abruptly ended with allegations of hazing inside the Auburn Mountainview locker room, the Lions brought in new leadership and new voices to get the program in the right direction.

“We really are building for this year, but we have a lot coming back. We are instilling our culture, offensive and defensive schemes, and it is only going to help us moving forward into the future,” Head Coach Garrett McKay said.

McKay comes from a family of coaches and brings a youthful energy to a program that is going to need a spark.

“He’s impressed me a whole bunch. He has come out and has been more hands on and shows you what to do. Instead of getting mad at you when you make a mistake he’ll better you as a person and a player… He’s a great person,” said senior Davion Munsen.

McKay is going to have his work cut out for him this season as well. For a “welcome to the league gift,” the NPSL added White River, Enumclaw, Decatur and Federal Way to the schedule like coal in a stocking on Christmas Day.

But those are challenges McKay is looking forward to.

“The league has gotten deeper, obviously we lost Auburn and Riverside, but it just speaks to consistency week to week. There aren’t really weeks off. We have to be consistent,” McKay said.

McKay has worked with the Lions since the spring and so far has made an impact on this group of players with the help of the seniors.

“Elijah (Baird), Davion (Munsen) and Jaylen (Hicks) have been awesome as far as welcoming a new staff and holding up the standards. As a new coach to the program, to have a couple seniors who are on board right away has been amazing,” McKay said.

Davion Munsen is one of six seniors on the Lions roster this year. As a senior linebacker for the Lions, he has a large role, and someone who will help him is linebacker Jordan Koval. The junior has stepped up as a leader in the eyes of his teammates: “He is out here making big plays. He knows his place, knows his job and does his job. He is a great player and great leader,” said Munsen.

Elijah Baird is entering his third year as a starter with the Lions and has taken strides in his development. This year, a lot has been placed on the senior’s shoulders — quarterbacking, playing safety and even returning kicks. Baird is looking to do it all this season.

“He has always been a great player. He’s always been able to throw that ball and could always run. He’s improved as a leader,” Munsen said.

For McKay, he is most excited to see who Baird is throwing the ball to — a talented group with some depth at the wide receiver position looks like a place of strength for the Lions.

“We have a ton of depth at receiver. We have had some young kids who are pushing the varsity kids,” McKay said.

In his first year at the helm, McKay has had to adapt to the roster he inherited. One way he and his staff have done that is having players learn multiple positions.

“The kids have embraced that. Every kid in this program knows multiple positions on at least one side of the ball. It helps us for depth and injuries down the road. That has been the most impressive piece is the kids’ willingness to learn,” McKay said.

One thing is for certain, the anticipation for week one keeps growing and growing. For McKay, it’s about just getting the team on the field and seeing how they play and respond when the pads pop against someone with a different color uniform.

“I am just excited to see how we compete and how do when things aren’t easy and adversity strikes… We talked a lot over the summer about being resilient. I am excited to see that,” he said.

Week one, the season opens vs. Federal Way — a great test for the Lions.

“I can’t wait for the season to start… Everybody here we have high energy and expectations, and we are all looking to meet it,” Munsen said.