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Sammamish coach Brian Tucci wants to keep on rolling. The Totems finished 3-7 last season – starting off the year with a win and ending it with a two-game winning streak, something that hadn’t been done since 2004. Sammamish returns 13 starters this year, the majority of those being juniors who played as sophomores.

The vibe I got at the Sammamish practice today was one of continuation. Players tell me they’ve bought in to the new mentality Tucci brought in last year. They saw how it paid off to work hard to reach their goals, one of which was to be competitive in every single game.

That’s brought more excitement into the program. Tucci told me today that they had 15 more kids turn out for the team this year as well as the largest freshman turnout they’ve had in a long time.

“You’re never really sure about how the first year went until you get to the beginning of the second year,” said Tucci, a former offensive guard at Western Washington University and Washington State University. “We found out things were looking better for us.”

The biggest factor, Tucci said, was laying down a good foundation. Players say he did just that.

“Ever since last year, our players have a new mentality and a different mindset,” said senior linebacker and wing Taylor Ragan. “Coach Tucci has done great things for us and kids are buying into the beliefs.”

Sammamish’s relative youth last year should be a strength this year. Returning at quarterback is Andrew Engles, who started eight games last year as a sophomore when senior Nick Hartigan went down with an injury. Engles impressed teammates last year enough to be voted a captain. Now he’ll lead the Totems offense in their second year in the veer offense that Tucci installed.

“We’re already up another level from last year,” Tucci said. “Now we’re fine-tuning things about it. It lets us coach at a higher level and it helps the kids take it to another level.”

I’ll have more on Engles in Friday’s preview.

Another weapon at the Totem’s disposal is Chris Lider, brother of former Sammamish and West Virginia kicker Josh Lider. Chris Lider is one of the state’s top kickers and one Tucci is counting on to be a big factor this season, saying coaches think there’s a possibility Lider may not allow any kickoffs this season since he hits the end zone nearly every time. One assistant joked they weren’t going to send out a kickoff unit – just Lider.

“Making every offense go 80 yards would be a huge thing for us,” Tucci said. “The kid can just flat-out kick the ball. He should be kicking on Saturday’s next year for sure.”

Tucci also joked with me about this blog post. Rivals.com listed Sammamish as one of the nation’s top high school football programs – inadvertantly picking the Totems when they meant Skyline. Tucci laughed saying his parents printed the article out – he even told the team to enjoy their national ranking for now.

It’s not the first time the two schools have been confused. Tucci told me he was woken up several times last season by Division I coaches recruiting Skyline wide receiver Kasen Williams.

“By the end of the season, I knew [Skyline coach Mat] Taylor’s number by heart to give out to them,” he said with a laugh.

Again, I’ll have much more about the Totems in Friday’s preview, but here’s a video interview with senior Taylor Ragan, a linebacker and wing in the veer offense. Here’s a link to his highlight reel from last season.

Here’s the video:

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