ROYAL CITY — Royal football coach Wiley Allred is the kind of guy that still thinks of his former coach and friend Bob Nielsen as “Mr. Nielsen.” He made that respect perfectly clear when he introduced him as a member of the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame back in 2006.

The only thing that would make Wiley Allred’s induction into the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame Jan. 27 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in SeaTac would be if Mr. Nielsen were there to usher him in.

Nielsen passed in 2010 after a bout with cancer, but the beat goes on and another Royal City coach will take his place among the great coaches in Washington history.

Allred will join the class of 2018 with a career record of 217-26, including seven state championships and three consecutive from 2015 to 2017. His program currently is tied for the sixth longest winning streak (41) in the nation, according to Maxpreps.

“It’s not a goal you have when you get into coaching. Obviously the wins are great, but it’s more about the relationships you develop along the way. It’s a huge honor, very humbling and greatly appreciated,” Allred said. “There’s a lot of people that travel the path with you and it’s really the kids on the field that do it.”

The Royal football team made its third consecutive trip to the Tacoma Dome where it became the seventh school in Washington state history to win three or more consecutive WIAA titles at the same level, and just the second 1A school to do so.

With the win over Newport in the semifinals, Allred (217-26) passed longtime coach Frank Naish for the 15th all-time winning percentage (89.3) for Washington state coaches with 200-plus victories.

The numbers are good, the wins are great, but what makes this special, Allred said, is the people he’s enjoyed the journey with.

“We’re not completely unique in Small Town America, but it sure feels that way sometimes,” he said. “We have so much support and I hope we play a part in bringing the community together.

“We have a lot of different backgrounds and a really good culture on our team. I think it expands out into the community that helps with the family atmosphere.”

Allred has long since moved into that role where former players are now on staff and he is responsible for teaching the lessons learned from Nielsen and his other mentors along the way.

“Happy to say that the old goat is officially entering the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame,” defensive coordinator Jeremy Scroggins said on Twitter. “I am honored to have played for this man and thankful to be on his staff.”

Allred just laughed at the old goat reference.

“It’s starting to come back around (where guys I coached now have kids playing for me). I’ve obviously been there awhile,” said Allred, who just finished up his 19th season. “Man, I’m coaching grand-nephews of mine.”

Kaden Jenks was the quarterback for back-to-back 1A state championships in 2015-16. He’s now a redshirt freshman at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

“I thank Wiley and everyone there at Royal for the great job they did in developing me for where I am now,” Jenks said in a telephone interview. “They instilled the work ethic. I know what I need to do and I have the mental toughness to do it, and I’m thankful for that.”

Doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do is the only way Wiley Allred knows how to live. He also knows when to give credit where credit is due.

“My staff deserves so much credit for this,” he said. “Jeremy Scroggins is my defensive coordinator. He’s a huge part of the culture we have. There’s Dan Oppell, who comes up from Mattawa, and David Gonzalez, who played at WSU.

“Pat Mitchell is our wrestling coach and has been an offensive coordinator at Chewelah before. He just wants to help out wherever he can. We also have Marc Albertson, who I coached a few years back, Dexter Allred and Kyle Scroggins. Those guys are a big part of the success.”

Allred will take his place in the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame alongside Mr. Nielsen and other great coaches in January, then begin the journey to the Tacoma Dome the following football season.

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com.