Familiar face, Fletcher hired as new football coach

There’s a new face of the Jamestown High School football program, but it’s not an unfamiliar one.

Tim Fletcher, an assistant coach on the JHS football team for the past 11 years, was officially voted by the Jamestown Public School Board to be the new head coach of the Blue Jay football team on Monday.

The season won’t kickoff until August, but the 1992 JHS graduate is already getting down to business.

“We’re going to emphasize the offseason program here with Jamestown football,” said Fletcher, who played at North Dakota State and Jamestown College. “It’s something that we deemed very important right away … That’s going to be our major emphasis is the offseason program and carrying that through the summer with our team camps and so forth and getting us ready for the fall.”

Fletcher previously taught and coached at Fargo Shanley before returning to Jamestown as an assistant.

He is replacing Bill Cahill, who resigned in October following his 14th season as the Blue Jays’ head coach, compiling a 52-84 record.

“This was a goal I had when I came back to Jamestown,” Fletcher said. “I feel honored that I am in this position. Hopefully we can make some improvements and changes where they need to be made in the program.”

Fletcher is inheriting a team that finished 0-9 last season, but he is confident that the wheels are in motion for improving on what has been a tough couple of years for the program.

“Things are moving in the right direction,” said Fletcher. “Now that this is taken care of we can start making some more major plans to put in place in the fall.”

Jamestown has won just three games over the last three seasons and hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2008, but the newly-named coach is hoping to change that trend with offseason work to help prepare the athletes for the fall season.

“From here on out, winter workouts, spring workouts and summer workouts are going to be an extremely important part of what we’re doing,” said Fletcher, who is a science teacher at JHS.

The Blue Jays, who have three state titles and six total region titles in program history — three in both the East and West Regions — will now be able to move forward with the offseason following a five-month hiring process that ended Monday. And with Fletcher being part of the program for over a decade, he believes the transition to head coach will be that much smoother for everyone involved.

“I think it’s a big advantage for the offseason,” said Fletcher of having familiarity with the JHS football program. “I think it will be easier to get things going from here.”

Sun sports writer David Griswold can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by e-mail at dgriswold@jamestownsun.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/DGriswoldSun

Tags: sports, jays, football