14-02-2025
Wing-T offense coming: Jeff Scoma ready to shake up Gig Harbor football program
Gig Harbor High School running backs, rejoice: the Wing-T is coming. Jeff Scoma, who was announced as the Tides' new football coach this week, is bringing a run-first offensive scheme to the program.
It worked at Stanwood High School, where Scoma took the Spartans to the Class 3A state tournament twice in 2021 and 2022. Prior to his arrival, Stanwood hadn't played in the state tournament since 1996, marking a 25-year drought.
'Coming out of covid, (Stanwood) needed a breath of fresh air,' Scoma told The News Tribune on Friday, a day after finalizing paperwork with the Peninsula School District to officially accept the job. 'The kids were fantastic. They did a great job learning the Wing-T and learning our offense. … It was a great group that wanted to embrace what we were doing.'
Scoma grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and played baseball in high school. He graduated from Arizona State University before moving to East Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he worked in the corporate office for Kellogg's cereal company. He eventually made his way to Washington, where he started a Seattle Team Shop company, which sells Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, UW and WSU apparel.
Currently, Scoma owns Soccer West, a soccer retailer in the Starfire Sports complex in Tukwila. Scoma's wife, Sydney, grew up in Tacoma and attended Stadium High School.
Scoma joined the football staff at Bellevue High School as an assistant after moving to Washington. He took the head coaching position at La Conner in 2020 for a year before jumping to Stanwood.
After putting Stanwood back on the state's football map, Scoma stepped down from the job a month into the 2024 season after Stanwood had gotten off to an 0-3 start. He declined to go into specifics about the decision.
'Just a quality of life decision,' he said. 'I don't want to go into the details.'
He resurfaced shortly thereafter as a consultant for Michael Kneip's Bellevue High football team last fall, helping the Wolverines reach the 3A state championship game at Husky Stadium. Scoma said it was a good chance to recharge.
'It was great,' he said. 'The culture there is special. The coaches are outstanding. Top to bottom, it's arguably one of the best coaching staffs in the state. There's a certain mindset, expectation, work ethic there. It was good to be a sponge and just absorb.'
Bellevue is where Scoma received his education as a coach and the program's fingerprints are all over his philosophy, from player buy-in to the Wing-T offense. He plans to bring the offense — which is also used by local 2A power Tumwater — to Gig Harbor.
'Bringing the Wing-T, but we'll do some things that are different,' he said. 'Some things people won't expect. I have to assess the talent, make some adaptations and changes based on some of the kids we have at each position.'
Expect things to look very different than in past years, when Gig Harbor has looked to spread the ball out. Gig Harbor's most recent major success came under now-Auburn High coach Aaron Chantler, when the Tides played at a dizzying tempo and threw the ball all over the place with quarterback Davis Alexander, who was the TNT's 2015 All-Area player of the year.
Scheme aside, Scoma said culture building will come first — and he thinks the foundation is in place to build a good culture at Gig Harbor.
'It's a quality school district,' Scoma said. 'Really good history, good booster club, great feeder program. Some nice periods of success, kids that have gone on and played college football.'
Success may not come overnight. Gig Harbor plays in a competitive 3A Puget Sound League Narrows Division, which features perennial Top 10 program Lincoln and rising Mount Tahoma, which has played in the state tournament quarterfinals in back-to-back years under Keith Terry.
'It's probably one of the tougher (leagues) in the state,' Scoma said. 'But it's all about us. We have to be the very best version of ourselves.'
