WARDEN – Former Warden Athletic Director Brent Cox has been selected as the new head football coach at Warden High School. 

“I’m happy to be head coach, and I want these kids to compete and get after it,” said Cox. “We’ve got to change the culture a little bit around Warden and get these kids thinking bigger, instead of just being part of a football team, I want them to be part of a winning program.” 

Cox said he is a graduate of Warden and has worked as a middle school coach, assistant football coach, and wrestling head coach over the years, along with being the athletic director. When the position of head football coach opened during the offseason, he decided that it was time for him to take on a new coaching experience once again.  

As the new head coach, he said he hopes to begin building a culture like he did with the wrestling program during his time as coach. He said he wants to bring love for the sport back for both the athletes and the community. 

“When I was a wrestling coach, I wanted these kids to grow up and be good sons and good fathers, and that’s what I want to do for this football program,” said Cox. 

During the first year, he said he is just planning on putting a focus on discipline and making the players accountable for what they’re doing. 

“We always want to just go out and win games, and that’s easy to say, but my biggest thing is I want these kids to grow up, have love for this sport and be able to have a good experience that they want this sport to be part of their lives,” said Cox. 

Warden plays in the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference, which has historically been a tough league in the 2B, he said. Going forward, he would like the team to make deeper runs into the playoffs and put more points on the board. 

“It always just seems like we’re in the middle of the pack and I’m ready for this football team to grow and be better than that,” said Cox. “We’ve always been around .500 for many seasons, and it’s like, ‘Let’s take it beyond that.’” 

Warden High School began its first football practices of the year with “two-a-days" starting Wednesday and will continue with those until Saturday.