Switzer joins 5 former players on Palmer staff

PALMER — During his seven seasons as head coach of the Palmer-Wasilla Falcons, John Switzer coached five members of the current Palmer High School coaching staff. After years away from the game, Switzer is back coaching football alongside those five men whom he used to lead on to the field.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen and longtime assistants Keith Armstrong, Brad Hanson, Andrew Corbin and Bert Verrall each played for Switzer, the head coach of a Falcons team that included players from both Palmer and Wasilla high schools.

“It’s been fun. It started last year, he was hanging around with us a little bit,” Christiansen said recently. “We decided to ask him to help coach. He gives us some insight here and there. He seems to have a lot of fun doing it. It’s pretty neat.”

Switzer helped start the Falcons program in 1971 and served as head coach through the 1977 season. Palmer and Wasilla high schools formed separate teams in 1978. After time away from the game, Switzer said he’s enjoying his time back on the field.

“It really is great,” Switzer said. “I live by Big Lake. I drive down there (to Palmer) and back every day. But it’s worth every bit of it.”

Switzer’s spot on the Palmer coaching staff started with a simple invitation.

“For the last season or two, they asked me to come down on the sidelines during games. This year, Rod called me and wanted to know if I wanted to work with Brad and the running backs,” Switzer said. “I try to answer questions and give some suggestions. In all honesty, the terms in football have changed so much. But bottom line, the objectives are still the same. You need to tackle and block, have good offense and defense.”

Switzer’s Falcons represented the resurrection of prep football in the Valley, which dates back to 1952.

Palmer High School formed its first football team, a squad coached by Norm Rousey Sr., in 1952. Rousey coached that program for five years before temporarily leaving the Valley to complete his master’s degree.

Years later, after Rousey was named superintendent of the Mat-Su School District, Rousey helped bring football back to the Valley, and the Palmer-Wasilla Falcons team was formed.

At that time, Switzer had been coaching basketball in Kodiak. Switzer, who had coached football in Kansas before that, said he felt he was a better football coach than basketball coach, and made the move to Palmer for the job.

Switzer said interest in football was good in the early years of the Falcon program, especially considering the small student body size at both Palmer and Wasilla high. But there were a limited amount of players.

“They always played hard,” Switzer said. “Part of the problem, we were playing the same 11 to 12 guys on offense and defense. By the second half, generally we ran out of fuel.”

Christiansen played four years of high school football for Switzer, and said he’s learned a great deal from his old coach.

“Of course, your head coach is always a big influence,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen said Switzer helped instill many of the values that he is passing along to his own athletes.

“Work ethic, playing hard as a team, take pride in your efforts knowing you’re going out there and giving it your best shot all the time,” Christiansen said.

The list of Switzer’s former athletes also includes Chugiak head coach Duncan Shackelford and West assistant Pete Carroll. Switzer said he’s happy to see his former athletes continue in the game as coaches.

“It has to make a guy pretty proud. I must have doing something right,” Switzer said.

Contact Jeremiah Bartz at 352-2273

or sports @frontiersman.com.