Retained from last years staff are Nolan Harris, Head Frosh Coach, and Nate Mayben who helped with frosh and JV last season.  These are good young coaches that give us some much needed continuity to the program.  They relate well to players and we are excited to have them in the program.

Coach Mayben is also an alumni of NMHS and and a former standout player for the Black Tornado. As a Senior in 1999, Mayben led the SOC in passing with 1,796 yards and 16 touchdowns, and his performance during a 31-21 comeback victory over Grants Pass on Oct. 29 will go down as one of the top Black Tornado performances of all time.

Another local coach that has been added to the staff is Jered Gail.  Jered has most recently been with Grants Pass High School in Grants Pass, Oregon.  Jered served two different stints at Grants Pass for a total of nine years. Prior to that he coached at North Medford for one season in 2004.  He played locally for the Southern Oregon Heat (Indoor arena-2001) and he played semi-pro with the Rogue Warriors for two years in 1999 and 2000.  Prior to that he was a player/coach for the Vienna Vikings in Europe in 1997.  Jered started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Southern Oregon in 1995.

Jacob Palaniuk will also be joining the Black Tornado staff as Defensive Line Coach.  Jacob served with Mitchell in Europe this past Spring where the Zagreb Patriots went undefeated in the CFL (Croatian Football League) with a 7-0 record and a claim to the National Championship.  Prior to that Jacob coached on Mitchell’s staff at Sandpoint High School in Sandpoint, Idaho.

In 2010 Jacob started his coaching career at Priest River High School in Idaho.  He coached the defensive line with Coach John Trana as they started the major overhaul of that program.  He played for Coach Mitchell at Sandpoint and was on the State Championship Final team of 2009 which played in the Kibbie Dome for the final.  Jacob was team captain of the Bulldogs.

Rounding out the staff will be Dave Patstone who will be serving as the running back coach for the Black Tornado.  Dave is from the area and has been working in various programs in the area while his son has been participating.  Dave was an All State tight end in California and was an excellent college player at one of the top Junior Colleges in California-Saddleback College.  He went on to start his coaching career at Tustin High School.