Meet head football coach Bermea

When Brendan Bermea applied to teach social studies at Lind-Ritzville middle school, he didn’t expect to become the high school’s head football coach.

Last spring, Bermea talked to Greg Whitmore (long-time football coach and athletic director at Ritzville) about filling an assistant coaching slot. That was the expectation. But after Whitmore accepted a job in Entiat, Bermea was offered the head-coaching assignment.

“When someone calls and asks … sometimes you just have to step up,” he said.

Bermea and his older brother grew up in Bremerton, Washington, where his father worked on ballistic missile submarines (called “boomers”) during a 20-year career with the U.S. Navy. His mother hailed from a small farming community in rural Nebraska. Life in Bremerton was comfortable for Bermea and his older brother, but after high school graduation, new adventures beckoned.

That led Bermea to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, a small school east of the Oklahoma panhandle, where he played football and studied for a year.

After returning home to Bremerton to attend community college, he coached football at Bremerton High School for two years. “It was my first introduction into coaching,” he said.

Bermea later earned an undergraduate degree in history education and master’s degree in progressive-era U.S. history (roughly 1890 to 1920). He obtained both degrees at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.

“I started teaching a bit later than most because of pursuing my master’s degree and going to school part-time.”

His persistence paid off.

“My first two years of teaching were at White Swan on the Yakima reservation. From there I moved to Tonasket,” Bermea said. “I spent three years (in Tonasket) and kind of rode through COVID there. It’s a nice community but a bit isolated. Especially when the border was closed to Canada, it was a six-hour drive to my parents’ home in Bremerton. Ritzville gets me a little closer to the Tri-Cities, Spokane, and friends in Yakima. It seems like a much better fit.

“I’ve always felt comfortable in small towns because my mom is from Falls City, Nebraska,” he said. “Her family farms down there. I always thought visiting that place was really cool. It’s not too big. You get to know everybody. That’s one of the things about Ritzville that was really attractive.”

At age 34, Bermea comes to Lind-Ritzville middle school with five years teaching experience—one year in high school, four in middle school. Of course, the football program holds special interest. “It’s great to come to a place that has such strong traditions and sustained success,” he said.

Bermea singled out the assistance of veteran coaches Mike Lynch and Greg Whitmore. Coach Whitmore was “still helping out the first week of spring (foot)ball, when I couldn’t be here because I was finishing up my job in Tonasket…not all head coaches get a chance for that,” he said.

All told, Bermea likes the team’s prospects for the upcoming football season. “It’s a great group of kids. We did very well at Central (spring football camp). I’m still learning and we’re going to make some adjustments…but it’s a privilege to have high expectations,” he said. “I’ve coached football before, but it’s a different perspective (as head coach) and a different set of responsibilities. It’s been great to take on those challenges.”