Coaching Career

• 2006-11 – Head Coach, Sandpoint High School, Sandpoint, ID
• 2000-06 – Head Coach, DeAnza College, San Jose, CA
• 1986-2000 – Assistant Head Coach & Offensive Coordinator, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
• 1984-86 – Head Coach, Oregon City High School
• 1978-84 – Head Coach, Hidden Valley High School, Grants Pass
• 1976-1978 – Head Coach, Montana Tech College, Butte, MT
• 1975-76 – Head Coach, Grants Pass High School
• 1972-75 – Head Coach, South Albany High School

Education

Tom Powell is the offensive line coach and Director of Football Operations.  Tom has handled the administrative chores of the program while Coatch Mitchell was in Europe this past Spring winning the Croatian National Title with a 7-0 record.  “Tom has done an excellent job in my absence as he set up all the details for our summer camp.”  He has 20 years of college coaching experience and has served as the interim head coach for the Black Tornado.

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.

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.

Defensive Coordinator Chris Kinkaid joins the staff from Sunset High School in Dallas, Texas.  He has been there for six years as DC and Texas football people couldn’t speak higher of an individual.  Mitchell says, he is a very knowledgeable defensive football coach and brings a lot to our new staff.  He has a good mixture of high school background as well as College background.  He has been the DC at Sam Houston High School in Arlington, Texas and also served as the DC at Irving High School in Irving, Texas.  His past also includes serving as Assistant Head Coach at Northside  HS in the  Dallas/Fort Worth  area.  

Chris also served as  defensive coordinator at McMurray University and Livingston University.  He was the secondary coach at National power Texas A & I-Kingsville, and at Sul Ross University.  “We are thrilled to have a man of his caliber join us at North Medford.

Doug has been the offensive coordinator at Phoenix for the last four years. Prior to that, he coached for one year with the Black tornado.  Doug also has college experience having coached at Lindenwood University, Ottawa University, and Southern Oregon University.  He was also a wide receiver  coach at the University of San Diego, Montana State University, and the University of Puget Sound.   He has also done some work in fundraising which will help our situation greatly.

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.