GREEN RIVER — Green River High School (GRHS) is welcoming a new era of Wolves Football, with new head coach Blaine Christensen’s first season rapidly approaching. Coach Christensen already has an impressive coaching background and a passion for developing young talent, and now he has the opportunity to showcase it in his first high school head coaching position.

In an interview with SweetwaterNOW, Coach Christensen shared his excitement and vision for the team as they prepare for the upcoming season. Coaching at his alma mater for his first season as a head coach, Christensen brings with him a wealth of experience, knowledge, and a reputation for instilling a winning culture wherever he goes.

Recently, GRHS engaged in 7 on 7 drills with Rock Springs High School and Mountain View High School. This would be the first action for the new-look Wolves and Coach Christensen viewed it as a learning experience.

“I wanted to see how they competed. I knew it would be a little shaky at first with our scheme just because we’ve only been at it for a couple of months and it takes a while to get good at some things, so I really wanted to see how the kids reacted to some adversity. I wanted to see them compete and I just wanted to see when the moment gets bright, when the light gets bright, who’s gonna step up and do it,” Christensen said.

Christensen and his new-look staff also used the 7 on 7s as a teaching moment for themselves. The Wolves found initial success attacking the middle of the field, but the other teams started to take notice of the Wolves’ scheme and adjusted to lock down the middle of the field. Coach Christensen and his assistant coaches went back to the drawing board after the game and, “figured out some counters of what we’ll do if they take away the middle of the field”.

His coaching philosophy is a mixed approach, focusing on skill development, physical conditioning, and mental toughness. When asked about his play-calling philosophy, Christensen explained that he comes into the head coach role with a run-first offensive background, but is not afraid to take the shots downfield when it opens up from the run game.

On the defensive side of the ball, Christensen will have a base 4-4 defense but noted that the style of play is going to be flexible and will attack what they believe to be the weakness of the opposing offense. This means we could see the Wolves’ defense change from being blitz heavy one week to being coverage oriented the next. It will all depend on what would work best to eliminate what the opposing offense does well while attacking holes to force some turnovers.

His philosophy stems heavily from his time as a player under coach Don Maggi. Christensen said he learned a lot from playing under Maggi.

“He coached hard. What I learned from Coach Maggi is that he sets expectations for players and coaches and you have to live up to that because he knows the standard that needs to go into having a successful football program and during the time when I played for him it was like, ‘oh man, this guy is hard,’ you know? But now that I’m in the role of being a head coach and have coached for a guy like Mark Lenhardt who reminds me a lot of Coach Maggi, it’s the expectation and it’s what needed to happen to get to that next level,” Christensen said.

Another thing Coach Christensen noted about his old coach was how much love Maggi had for his players. While speaking with Christensen, it becomes very clear that he deeply cares about his team and this community. He spoke about his ultimate goal saying, “I want to be the best coach for these kids as I can be. Granted, it might not be turned around year one, but I want to be here for a long time. I want to be a guy that has a long career here at Green River High School and I want to win some football games. I want to give this community something to be proud of. I want to make runs deep into the playoffs. I want to win championships. I want to hang banners, but I want to be the best coach for these kids that I can be.”

Coach Christensen has a motto, which is what he wants the kids to take with them in life.

“We tell them one simple thing: no fear of failure. Because the moment you go out there and start playing with a little fear, that’s when things go bad. You start playing timid and that’s not the way we want these kids to leave this program to live life either. Don’t be scared to fail,” Christensen said.

When asked what he wants his legacy to be, he responded by saying he hoped people would say that, “he’s the staple of what Green River football is. That he had loyalty, he was hard-working, he gave everything to the community, and he stayed here.” He continued, “one, I want people when I’m 80 years old to say, ‘man, he won, he was a really good football coach’. But two, ‘he was also a good human and treated people with respect and gave the kids everything he had’.”

One aspect that sets Coach Christensen apart is his emphasis on community involvement for the program. He believes that a successful football program must be deeply connected to the community it represents. Under his leadership, the team will actively engage in various community service projects, building a strong bond with the locals and inspiring the next generation of aspiring football players.

This week, GRHS football held a football summer camp for the youth at Wolves Stadium, similar to the ones he went to as a kid when his father, Jamie Christensen, was the head coach for Rock Springs High School. His father Jamie coached Rock Springs from 1999 to the 2003 season. During this time, he had a 35-11 record with 2 back-to-back undefeated state championship winning seasons, which included a 22-game win streak, a school record to this day.

While the expectations are high, make no mistake— Blaine Christensen is no stranger to the challenges of transforming a program. In his most recent role as an assistant coach for the Rock Springs Tigers under Mark Lenhardt, we saw the Tigers turn things around as a team and really get the community excited about football again. In 2021 the Tigers made it back to the state championship game for the first time since his dad won it back in 2002.

As the Green River Wolves football team gears up for their upcoming season, there is an air of anticipation and optimism surrounding the team and the community. With Christensen at the helm, the players and fans alike have every reason to be hopeful for a successful and promising future.

The Wolves will be starting off the season with a zero week against the Mountain View Buffaloes on August 26 at Wolves Stadium. Following will be Week 1 where Green River is traveling to Lander for the first conference matchup and first away game for the young head coach’s career. Coach Christensen is also looking forward to battling against his brother-in-law, Patrick Sweeney, who is the coach for Worland, as well as playing Cody and Star Valley, as he is eager for the challenge.

The countdown to the first kickoff has begun, and the whole community eagerly waits to see what transformations await for the Wolves football team under the leadership of Coach Blaine Christensen.