MATTAWA - Michael Foristiere, who played for the Univerity of Oregon and honed his coaching skills in the Boise, Idaho area, has been selected as the next head football coach at Wahluke High School.

Forestiere replaces Brycen Bye, who has been named head coach at Clarkston. He served in that capacity at Wahluke for three years.

The change will make life a little easier for Bye, whose home town of Pomeroy is within 45 minutes of Clarkson. He still works summers on the family wheat farm.

"I have family in the area," he said.

There was a serious search process to replace Bye and, in that process, Wahluke personnel screened and spoke with 12 applicants from as far away as North Dakota. The two finalists were invited to the school on May 13 to interview for teaching and coaching positions.

The finalists attended a public forum where they had an opportunity to present themselves and answer questions from students, parents and other members of the Mattawa community.

"While touring the school and meeting with the community, Mr. Foristiere repeatedly expressed how much he appreciated the quality of the school's facilities, and the positive and friendly attitude of those he met," Principal Jeff Pietila said.

"He indicated that he is making plans to return to Mattawa to spend more time with the student-athletes, meet with the coaches and teachers of the school, and take charge of spring ball and the summer conditioning and training program."

A graduate of the University of Oregon, Foristiere played two years of varsity football for the Ducks. He comes to Wahluke following a long history of successful teaching and coaching experiences in the Boise area.

Foristiere is an assistant coach at Eagle, Idaho. He has served as the head coach at Vallivue High School in Caldwell, and prior to his experiences in Idaho, he taught and coached in the Fresno and Clovis school districts in California.

Foristiere will teach English Language Arts at Wahluke High School. His experiences in teaching have included training in the use of the Sheltered Instruction Operation Protocols (SIOP), one of the foundations of instruction throughout the Wahluke School District.