CUT BANK — For the third time in three years, Cut Bank football has seen changes on its coaching staff.
Paul Schilling — a longtime coach of the Wolves — is back with the team after nearly a decade away.
"It feels good to be home. I'm glad to be in purple and gold," Schilling said at Thursday's practice.
He chose a good year to return to the program, especially since the team is honoring a coach he views as a mentor.
"I missed the Wolves, and I'll tell you, this is a special fall because we are going to honor Coach (Ron) Kowalski, who's a legendary coach here," Schilling said. "They're going to name the field after him, and I wanted to be there for that."
But while Schilling is back, his players have had to adjust to yet another new head coach.
"It's a little tough for them," Schilling said. "They've done a great job, and I think we're really just trying to keep it simple and go from there."
Two seniors, Alex Wahl and Dallas Berkram, have been through lots of change, but they both say it's been smooth transitioning to Schilling.
"It's good energy, flying around, having fun with coach Schilling out here," Wahl said. "We're all learning a lot from him."
"There's just a new energy around the team," Berkram said.
The team made an appearance in the Class B playoffs last season and hopes to make it back there and beyond this fall. But that's not the Wolves' only goal.
"We constantly talk about kids doing the right things, and that's been one of my mottos, is that we're not only going to be good football players, but we're going to try to be good people, too," Schilling said.
The Wolves' season kicks off Aug. 30 on the road at Townsend at 7 p.m.
