KALISPELL — After a winless season in 2024, the Kalispell Flathead football is ushering in a new era with Whitefish native Mac Roche as its new head coach. And he is looking to bring a winning mentality that the program has not seen in years.
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As fall camp winds down for the Braves, the team is as excited as ever to kickoff the 2025 season.
With Roche leading the charge, the players have confidence that this season will be different than previous years.
“None of them you would’ve thought came off a winless season, all of them had so much belief in what this next group could accomplish,” Roche said. “It sold me right away, and everything else fell into place. But I decided I wanted to be here because those players convinced me it's going to be special.”
For players like senior quarterback Eli Coopman, he says the the players have belief because they have a chip on their shoulders.
“We’ve all faced adversity,” Coopman said. “Going to Flathead the last four years, we have like what, three or four wins our entire time being in this program? And us still having all that confidence and everyone staying, I think that’s really special.”
With that mentality, Roche has put the responsibility on the players to build a team-first culture.
For senior offensive lineman Kyler Kossman, who recently transferred from Eureka, he believes the team has been successful in building that camaraderie.
“I showed up one day, knew no one, and then by that afternoon, after our lift, I knew over half the team,” Kossman said. “Everyone was super accepting, everyone loves to be here, and it's been super great.”
While Roche believes his players will not need a ton of motivation to win, he is sending them into the season with a simple message.
“We're not looking back, we're looking forward,” Roche said. “The future is in your hands, and seniors, you have a really unique opportunity to lay the foundation however we want Braves football to be for the next decade, it gets to start with them.
