Gatch brings extensive experience to HHS

Since his days as a football player for Colstrip High School, Ryan Gatch has known that he wanted to be a football coach.

Now, after nearly 20 years in the profession, Gatch has found the job he’s been looking for and that job is being the head coach of the Havre Blue Ponies.

“Havre has had a great football program for a long time. I always remember Havre. I remember watching Havre play Miles City for a state championship,” Gatch said. “But, we believe that Havre is a welcoming community. I think our little guys will have buddies to run around with and that will be a fun thing.”

Gatch, who has been involved in the game of football at the high school or college level for the last 26 years, brings a vast knowledge of the game to the helm of Havre High football. He has coached under a number of legendary coaches and has experience doing just about everything from calling offensive and defensive plays, to coaching quarterbacks and special teams.

His years of head coaching experience at Deadwood High School in South Dakota, and last season at Forsyth, a Class B school, have given him plenty of his own experiences to draw from as he leads the Ponies’ program.

“I think the biggest thing about being a head coach is that you do have to give up a little bit of the play-calling,” Gatch said. “Sometimes you have to deal more with big picture stuff. There are also things you need to deal with in terms of administrative stuff.”

If there was one place that played a bigger role in Gatch’s career path than any other, it would probably have to be Dickinson State University, where Gatch played college football from 1994-1997.

Gatch, who was an All-Conference player in the Eastern A at Colstip, also earned All-Conference honors at Dickinson State. DSU is also where Gatch was able to mentor under NAIA coaching legend Hank Biesiot.

“I had a lot of fun playing football in college,” Gatch said. “I also was able to play for a Hall-of-Fame head coach in Hank Biesiot, that was pretty cool. It’s funny how you don’t realize the impact some coaches have on you, but that was a rewarding experience. I also got my first coaching experience under him. I started on the defensive side of the ball. I got to go back and work with him later in his career and I got to work on the offensive side of the ball.”

There’s no doubt that Biesiot was one of the great influences on Gatch’s coaching career, but with a career that spans many different jobs and coaching staffs, he is far from Gatch’s only major influence.

“When I look back, coach Biesiot was a heck of a head coach,” Gatch said. “I had him and a lot of other really good coaching influences. Up here, you have Scotty Leeds, I coached with him and he’s a heck of a coach. After I left (Montana State University-Northern) I was the assistant at Minot State. I was the assistant defensive coordinator with Mike Severtsen and he was really good to work with.

“After that, we went to Black Hills state,” he added. “John Scott was down there and that was good. We won a conference championship. Then I worked for Brad Smith, an RMAC Hall-of-Fame guy, Bill O’Boyle and even here with Mark Samson. We had some phone conversations before cellphones. I remember running out to a pay phone to call him and ask him if he had a job available at the national convention. So it’s real interesting how a career path is shaped by a bunch of individuals.”

And Gatch’s career path has taken him to Havre High. Back in 2004, Gatch lived in Havre and was an assistant coach at MSU-N. He enjoyed his time in Havre then, but left the following year. Now, he’s back and this time, he’s ready to stay.

“My family was a game changer for me,” Gatch said. “My wife and having a woman that loves you and two awesome kids, that’s a game changer and that made we want to change my career path.

“There was a time when I wanted to be the head coach of X univeristy,” He added. “But now I am really excited about the chance to groom and mentor the next generation of kids. I am looking forward to working with our students. I have been real fortunate to work with middle school kids, high school kids, college kids, and I understand how important that education and the power of positive thought is and that’s something we can work on a daily basis.”

Editor's Note: This story is a two-part series on new HHS head coach Ryan Gatch. See Thursday's HDN for part two.