His last name is one pretty much everyone in town knows, even if so many people mispronounce or misspell it.

Bryan Arntson is not the first Coach Arntson at Butte High School. He probably won’t be the last. Coaching and teach is just something people named Arntson tend to do around these parts.

Bryan Arntson, who is in this third year as the head coach of the Butte High girls’ basketball team, has been the defensive coordinator for the Bulldog football team the past 15 seasons. During his run, Butte High won the Class AA State football title in 2012.

While Dallas Cook, Zach Bunny and Jake Dennehy stole the headlines from that team, Arntson’s decision to move Bo Taylor from linebacker to nose tackle as part of a 5-2 defense that stopped Billings Skyview in the quarterfinals might have been the play of the year.

Before he followed the family tradition and got into coaching and teaching, Arntson was a three-sport athlete for the Bulldogs, competing in football, basketball and track. After earning a second-team All-State nod as an offensive tackle, Arntson went on to have a great career as a linebacker at Montana Western.

Playing for defensive coordinator Rich Ferris and head coach Tommy Lee, Arntson was a part of some of the best defenses in the Frontier Conference. He wasn’t the fastest player, but he was smart and tough. He had a nose for the ball.

In addition to coaching the Bulldogs girls’ basketball and football teams, Arntson was also a track coach at Butte High. He was an assistant coach on the boys’ and girls’ basketball benches, and he put in a long stint as a Special Olympics coach.

Arntson is married to former Butte High standout athlete Kristi Witt, who is an assistant volleyball coach at Montana Tech. When they aren’t coaching, the Arntsons are chasing around their two children, Rigley and Brooks.

Today’s podcast is presented by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warantee.