Tom Bunnell wrote a perfect ending to his soccer coaching career in 2017, wrapping up a sparkling 14-year run with the Issaquah (Wash.) girls team by winning a fifth state championship.
Bunnell, who was 52 at the time, said he was “very committed” to retiring from coaching. But his friends weren't buying it.
“They had a pool, 'When's Tom going to win another state championship?'” Bunnell said. “I said, 'I can't win one if I'm not coaching. They're like, 'You're going to coach.'”
As it turns out, his friends were right. Bunnell is the new coach for the Summit boys, taking over a team that won the 6A title in 2021 and reached the 5A semifinals last year.
“I thought I wasn't going to coach,” he said. “I was pretty dead-set on it. And it didn't take me long to be excited again.”
Bunnell is high school soccer royalty in Washington. He went 220-39-16 in 14 seasons with the Issaquah girls, reaching the state championship game nine times. His teams consistently made the national rankings, rising to No. 1 in three different seasons.
Bunnell employed an explosive 4-3-3 attack back when most teams ran 3-5-2 and 4-4-2. Opponents simply couldn't deal with the Eagles' firepower.
“We had these blazing backs that would get forward,” Bunnell said. “Teams were overwhelmed. I always just demanded dominating in the air. In girls soccer, it just wasn't a part of the game.”
Bunnell, who taught business classes at Redmond High School in Washington from 2003 through 2021, has always had an affinity for central Oregon. He and his wife Karla have taken annual vacations to Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond for more than three decades, and seven years ago they bought property near Bend.
After the COVID crisis subsided, they built a house on the property and made the move south. He stayed busy by working with European Soccer Solutions, doing sales and guiding teams on trips to Spain. He also did private goalkeeper training and helped out with a 9-year-old boys team in Bend.
“Every time I'd get even remotely started coaching, I'd get fired up,” he said.
When Summit began looking for a coach to replace Joe LoCascio, who went 32-2-2 in two seasons, Bunnell started receiving phone calls from those who knew he was in the area. His wife encouraged him to check it out.
“I started looking into it,” Bunnell said. “And the next thing, I got suckered into it.”
Bunnell was hired last month as Summit's coach, a few days after he accepted a teaching position at Mountain View. Both schools are about a half-hour drive from his home.
As a new coach in Oregon, he won't benefit from the reputation he built in Washington, where he was known as “Teflon Tom.”
“A lot of people in Washington are like, 'You're screwed, Tom, because none of the refs know you,” he said. “Y'ou're not even going to be able to be yourself.'”
Summit is one of the state's premier programs, posting 12 consecutive winning seasons, including state titles in 2013 and 2021. The Storm has outscored its opponents 208-20 in the last three seasons.
“I didn't know they were that successful,” Bunnell said. “I didn't know they were perennial contenders.”
Summit graduated eight seniors from a team that went 15-2-1 and held the top seed in the 5A playoffs before falling to West Albany 2-1 in the semifinals. The program is deep, though, and this year's squad features nine seniors.
Bunnell, who coached Issaquah's boys team before taking over the girls and also was a longtime boys assistant at Mercer Island, said the Storm “is one of those rare groups of guys.”
“I think it's because there's so much senior leadership,” he said. “They're real quality dudes. You can just see the leadership and you can just sense the excitement. They can play.”
Bunnell said Summit could be as strong as the 2021 title team, which finished 17-0-1 after cruising through the 6A playoffs, outscoring five opponents 21-0.
“I think this team could be that impressive,” he said. “I told them, 'If we follow the path properly, please let's do this right, and we'll be rewarded, I promise.'”
Summit lost its leaders in goals (Junior Ochoa, 15) and assists (Aidan MacLennan, 11), but can build its attack around senior midfielders Bowen Teuber (nine goals, five assists) and Tommy Carroll, junior forward KP Roskowski and senior forward Riley Ring.
The defense looks strong with junior Gabe Lachman and seniors Ryder Poulin and Fernando Espinosa as well as promising rookie Quintin Swanston, a 6-foot-3 freshman who is slated to start. Junior Lucas Carter is the goalkeeper.
Summit opens the season at home Friday against reigning 6A champion Jesuit. The Storm won at Jesuit 4-2 in the 2021 season opener and tied the Crusaders 0-0 at home last year.
Bunnell is itching to face Jesuit considering he was unable to schedule games against the Crusaders' dominant girls teams during his tenure at Issaquah. Unfortunately for Bunnell, he will miss Friday's game to attend a wedding.
“Now I finally get to play them and I can't be there,” he said.
After spending the last five seasons on the sidelines, Bunnell is eager to compete again.
“I love it. I'm having so much fun,” he said. “I'm just super, super excited. It's probably what I needed. It keeps me fired up, gives me more things to do.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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