Coach Jon Eagle: You Put the Person Together, You Put the Team Together

Coach Jon Eagle is a highly accomplished football coach with over 40 years of experience in high school and college coaching. Originally from Vancouver, Washington, he built a legendary career in the Pacific Northwest, compiling an impressive overall head coaching record of  278-77 across 34 seasons. Eagle’s head coaching journey included stints at Evergreen High School (Vancouver, WA: 88-39 from 1988-2001), Redmond High School (WA: 18-12 from 2002-04), and Camas High School (WA: 127-22 from 2008-20), where he led the Papermakers to Washington state titles in 2016 and 2019. After a brief assistant role at Portland State University in 2021, he took the helm at West Linn High School (Oregon) in 2022. As the Lions' most recent head coach (2022-2025), Eagle guided West Linn to a remarkable 45-4 record over four seasons, capturing Oregon 6A state championships in 2022 and 2024. His 2025 season, announced as his final one, ended with an 11-1 record and a tough semifinal loss. Eagle retired after the 2025 campaign, passing the program to successor Anthony Newman.

In this conversation, Coach Jon Eagle shares his extensive coaching journey, emphasizing the importance of building relationships with players, adapting coaching strategies, and fostering a strong team culture. He discusses his coaching philosophy, the significance of leadership, and how success is defined beyond just winning games. Coach Eagle also reflects on the evolution of football and the cyclical nature of the sport, while providing insights into effective communication and player development. 

Takeaways

- Good Coaches see what’s on the field, The best Coaches see what’s off the field

- Transitioning a program: Define Pushback

- Practice Structure: First Things First

- Communicate the Vision and Staff alignment

- “Blind Spots” Transparency and communication within the staff

- Continuous learning and adaptation are vital in coaching.

- 1 Formation Challenge and Scheme Philosophy

- We want to create coaches on the field

- Daily goals: Don’t focus on the peak

- “The Whole is a sum of its parts”

- Leadership involves empowering coaches and players alike.

- Creating a fun and structured environment is key to player engagement.

- Success is defined by relationships, not just wins.

- A successful coach must adapt their strategies over time.

Photo Cred: Camas-Washougal Post Record

https://linktr.ee/The_Coachers_Podcast

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Coach Jon Eagle
• 3:15 Coaching Philosophy and Leadership Style
• 5:39 Adapting Coaching Strategies and Blind Spots
• 9:12 Communicate the Vision & Staff alignment
• 11:26 Scheme Philosophy
• 14:44 Is the game of football cyclical? Is there finite amount of knowledge?
• 17:07 Transitioning a Program
• 18:34 Building Relationships with Players
• 21:12 Team Goals and Accountability
• 22:38 Greatest influences
• 32:12 One Formation Challenge!
• 33:07 Practice Structure: First Things First
• 35:15 Non Traditional Stats that you Track
• 37:26 Creating Coaches on the Field
• 38:24 RB alignment in NFL and Laterals
• 40:48 Why is football the greatest sport in your opinion?
• 42:41 You Put the Person Together, You Put the Team Together
• 45:11 Opponent Scout Process
• 49:19 QB's and Being Fast Processors
• 50:57 Anela Question of the Day: Favorite Christmas movie
• 51:48 What does team mean to you?
• 52:34 Conundrum: The Self, The Collective & Faith
• 55:35 Ball opportunities and Takeaways @ Practice
• 58:19 Program / Culture Building Ideas
• 1:00:02 Aside from Winning - What Metrics do you use to Define Success?
• 1:04:01 Self-Scout Process in Coaching
• 1:06:17 Final Thoughts on Coaching and Leadership