Coming off of his third head coach in four years, few things about soccer catch senior defender Teigen Edmundson off-guard nowadays.

But he and the Sandpoint boys soccer hopefuls were in for a wake-up call when first-year head coach Tanner French opened up one of the first practices with a simple, yet effective demonstration.

“How many people here have won state titles?” French asked the group.

Silence. French and his assistants Daniel Anderson and Anthony Fox were the only others with hands up.

“Okay, now how many of you have been to state?” French said.

This time, only a few of the upperclassmen had their hands raised. Yet the visual stuck with Edmundson.

“That was kind of a shock,” Edmundson said, giving a chuckle as he recalled the scene.

For Sandpoint soccer, the hope is to have few more hands raised by the time French asks the question again. Bringing a combination of collegiate soccer experience and a pedigree of winning at Sandpoint, French will help the Bulldogs take the first of many steps towards state-wide relevance this fall.

“I think having a staff of former state champions in this program should be a great indicator of what this program can be,” French said. “We talk about our past to inspire their future. That’s the only way we evolve: by learning from our mistakes and moving onward. There should be motivation every day for them because when they look at that trophy case and understand that it’s been seven years since our last state trophy at all.”

“If that’s not enough motivation to realize that it’s entirely up to them, then I’m not sure what is.”

So far, the first-year head coach’s goal to rebuild the program has rubbed off on the players. Despite having only one year remaining in the program, senior defender Nate Couch believes this season is an opportunity to bring the boys soccer program back to its former heights.

“Outside of the team stuff, I feel like the high school boys as a team should help rebuild Sandpoint High School soccer’s reputation,” Couch said. “I feel like over the past couple of years, it’s kind of slid off a little bit. I feel like we should earn that respect back as a high school.”

Over the past few seasons, Sandpoint boys soccer has experienced varying degrees of success with a revolving door of coaches. In former head coach Evan McNeley’s last game at the helm, the Bulldogs carried a 4-0 conference record into the district championships, yet were upset by Moscow at home in a 2-1 shocker.

The sting from that loss has been the one constant amongst the returners, even with all of the program’s changes since that game.

“I felt like we took it for granted,” Junior striker Zander Moore, who led the Bulldogs in scoring last season, said. “We came in with those two wins already, so [I feel] like we eased up a little bit.”

“I just don’t want that to happen to the senior class again,” Junior defender Chris Koch said.

In order to not have a repeat of last season, the Bulldogs will rely on a rather young team.

How young is young? Sandpoint suited up only three seniors in the season-opening draw to Lewiston.

But as far as program-building goes, this balance between grades and plenty of untapped potential is a favorable situation for the first year of a rebuild ­— especially given the caliber of freshmen Sandpoint has on its roster.

“This freshman class overall has great potential,” French said. “I think there are a lot of talented young boys in that group — not just on varsity. I think they are very willing. That willingness will hopefully spread throughout the program this year and turn the tide in this program for years to come.”

The veterans on this team range from all-league players like the dynamic striker Moore — who French “sees a lot of [himself}” in — to steadier, more collected players like Koch, who has already earned one superlative from his new coach.

“Chris Koch is one of the most composed players I have ever coached,” French said. “I think a lot of players can learn from his calmness. He’s the maestro; he really orchestrates how we maintain possession as a team. I’m glad he’s only a junior because that means I get two years of coaching him. He teaches a lot of us about how to play the game, which is immensely powerful as a junior at Sandpoint.”

Unsurprisingly, both juniors are not only captains, but also are clear leaders on the field. They are the ones that keep the freshman-heavy group together on both phases of the game, both in terms of skill and pose.

“We’re all intelligent,” Moore said. “We’ve played the game long enough, so we know how to read the game and we know how each of us play.”

Thanks to their experience in club soccer and throughout school teams, the upperclassmen have relied on each other throughout each coaching change. Moore, in particular, wants to focus on building on-field communication with the underclassmen this year.

“I feel like we’re pretty flexible with adapting to coaches and what their style is,” Moore, said. “I feel like that should be a big goal for us this year: getting comfortable playing with each other and being able to say something when knowing your teammate is going to take it into account.”

For the time being, the Bulldogs will be somewhat of an enigma. French admitted that most area teams have probably written off the Bulldogs, yet he and the team relish the opportunity to surprise teams this season.

“Every game will be a test, but I think they’ll have and advantage in every game because everyone is counting them out,” French said. “For it to be like that my first year, I couldn’t ask for a better scenario. Yeah, it’d be nice to be undefeated and come in, keep sailing the ship and put it on cruise control. But that wouldn’t make my job very fun.”

Even though this fall is a rebuilding season, the players are still aiming for a state berth and beyond. Regardless of the season’s outcome, the entire team realizes that they are building something bigger than themselves.

Days before the season opener, both Sandpoint boys and girls varsity players helped out at a Sandpoint Strikers club soccer event that aimed to foster relationships between current youth players and high schoolers. While watching players like Koch, Moore, Edmundson and Couch playing alongside kids who aspire to take their places someday, French understood the climb back to relevance wasn’t just for the current players. This season will ultimately be for players years down the road.

“Sandpoint’s population will rarely change,” French said. “But it’s what we do in the lives of kids that will really make a difference so that when they are older, now they’re the idols for that next generation. It’s really creating something that everybody in this community wants to be proud of.”

Sandpoint’s next game will be against Post Falls on Sept. 3 at 4:30 p.m.