Colony assistant gets his chance

PALMER — After longtime Colony mentor Randy Magner retired as head coach of the Knights football program in 2005, a young assistant named Brian McIntosh applied to become Magner’s successor.

McIntosh didn’t get the job. But five years later, McIntosh is now getting his chance.

Earlier this week, McIntosh was named the head coach of the Colony football program.

“When he came in and applied for the job the last time, we had a long talk. I didn’t feel he was ready to be a head coach,” Colony activities director Mike Boyd said. “Now he’s ready.”

McIntosh, a former outside linebacker at Minot State, admitted he probably wasn’t ready to jump into the role of head coach five years ago, and he’s relished the opportunity to work on the Colony staff for the last six years under the wing of Magner and Jamie Mayo, who resigned in late 2009 after his five-year tenure as head coach.

“I learned a lot from those guys,” McIntosh said. “Now, I’m excited to hit the new year.”

During his six years on the Colony staff, McIntosh has has had ample time to coach on both sides of the ball, which prepared him to become a head coach.

“He’s very creative on both offense and defense,” Boyd said. “He’s worked with almost every position.”

Magner was known for his offensive mind at CHS, while defense has always been Mayo’s forte. McIntosh said he tried to learn as much as he could from each coach.

“Spending a lot of time on both sides of the ball helped me out,” McIntosh said.

McIntosh spent the first two years of the Mayo era as the co-defensive coordinator. Three years ago, McIntosh moved to offensive coordinator and has led the offense ever since.

McIntosh, who grew up and played high school football in Great Falls, Mont., before hitting the college gridiron at Minot State in North Dakota, spent much of his playing career focusing on defense.

“I’ve always been a defensive guy,” McIntosh. “But having a strong background in defense, helped me out on offense.”

Boyd called McIntosh, “a student of the game,” but also said his work with Colony students in the building as a coach and U.S. history teacher also made him the right candidate for the job.

“We’ve got a pretty good reputation at Colony for promoting from within,” Boyd said. “He’s got a good relationship with the kids, and he’s also willing to put in the time.”

Mayo was not a teacher in the building, and Boyd said McIntosh often took the lead when Mayo was outside the school.

“He was pretty much running things when Jamie was out of the building,” Boyd said. “He’s in touch with what’s going on in the school.”

McIntosh said he’s beginning to put together a staff for the 2010 season, and hopes many of the coaches from the 2009 campaign will return.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.