fbpx
Football

Alex Cummings Named Next Flathead Football Coach

Missoula native, MSU Northern grad had been assistant coach for past six seasons

By Micah Drew
Flathead Braves quarterback Charlie Hinchey makes a pass during the annual crosstown football game against Glacier Wolfpack in Legends Stadium in Kalispell on Oct. 16, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Flathead High School’s offensive line coach has moved to the top job on the sidelines at Legends Stadium.

Alex Cummings, who was been an assistant with the Braves for the past six seasons, has been selected as Flathead’s new head football coach, the school announced on Tuesday. His hiring will not become official until the school board approves it.

Flathead Activities Director Bryce Wilson was part of a six-member interview committee that spoke with seven potential candidates out of a pool of 20, and he introduced Cummings in his new role to Braves players at a Tuesday morning meeting.

“I got a little emotional getting introduced to the team,” Cummings said. “It’s a truly humbling experience for me. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a head high school football coach.”

Cummings was recruited to Flathead in 2015 by former head coach Kyle Samson, who was the offensive coordinator at MSU Northern when Cummings played there. After graduating from Northern, Cummings spent a year working at his former high school, Missoula Big Sky, before moving to Kalispell.

“We’ve got to just bring positive energy to the program, that’s my biggest priority,” Cummings said. “We have to build that family mentality here at Flathead and get these guys to really play for each other … never quit on each other and play full speed for the guy next to them.”

Over the next month Cummings will finalize the rest of his coaching staff, and is optimistic that he will be able to pull together a top quality team by the time the Braves hit the gridiron in the fall.

“The talent will take care of itself — I think what you’re going to see on the field is a team that plays extremely hard. We’re going to play four quarters of football as hard and fast as we can go,” he said. “I want people to say, ‘Holy smokes, these guys play with heart.'”

Flathead last reached the Class AA state championship game in 2018, their first appearance in the title game in 18 years, and came within eight yards of winning the school’s first state title since 1970. In the last two seasons under former head coach Matt Upham, the Braves were 2-15.