Home

When I saw the passive-aggressive Facebook post, I knew exactly the coach the post was referring to.

“So I have a question. What would you call 4 winnings seasons in 16 years. Would you call it great, good, average, bad or real bad (sic). That’s winning 25% of the year’s (sic). Just wondering peeps.”

The post would not have passed second grade English, but that seems to be about par for Facebook posts these days. We have come to the point where grammar and punctuation no longer seem to matter.

That aside, the post just really bugged me.

Only a few people took notice of the coach the poster was talking about. Some made jokes about their NFL teams, while others commented on the intended target.

If you haven’t figured it out, that post was about Butte High football coach Arie Grey, who just finished his 16^th season at the helm of the Bulldogs. The post was also flat out wrong on so many levels.

For one thing, the Bulldogs have posted five winning seasons in Grey’s 16 years — 2012, 2013, 2019, 2022 and 2023. That tenure includes the 2012 Class AA State title and the 2019 trip to the championship game.

Here are a few examples of responses to that post:

— “Time for a change my friend.”

— “It wouldn’t have happened back in the day brother. I know exactly what you’re referring to. 16 years is way too long. It should have been 4or5.”

— “That’s an ok average but not up to Butte standards, over.”

In those 16 seasons, Grey’s Bulldogs have posted a record of 80 wins and 101 losses.

If you are talking about an NFL or even a college football coach, the winning percentage is probably not good enough to keep a job.

If you’re judging a high school football coach purely on wins and losses, though, you’re doing it wrong. While Herman Edwards famously said “You play to win the game,” there is just so much more to high school football than the final score.

Grey knows he is there to help build better men, and I think it is indisputable that he has done exactly that.

But, for the sake of a fair argument, lets take a look at some numbers to put Grey’s coaching record into perspective.

Grey took over the Butte High program in 2008, and he was immediately attacked on the old chat site ButteRats.com. Even though he was a Deer Lodge native and coming to Butte by way of Kalispell, he was blasted for being part of Butte’s “good ol’ boy network” because he married into a Butte family known for its close ties to Butte Central.

So, right off the bat, a lot of people in Butte were not giving the coach the benefit of the doubt. Many of those people never came around on that, either.

At the time Grey was hired at Butte High, 16 seasons had passed since the school last won a Class AA State football title. Over those 16 seasons, the Bulldogs posted a record of 52-105 under head coaches Greg Salo, Steve Schulte, Rick Carriger and the legendary Jon McElroy. Those are four great men who I would go to bat for any day of the week, by the way.

In those 16 seasons from 1992 through 2007, the Bulldogs posted three winning seasons.

So, if you want to make it about wins and losses, then the Bulldogs have clearly been better in the 16 seasons under Grey than they were in the 16 seasons that preceded him. Oh, did I mention those two magical seasons — when an entire community revolved its collective life around those Naranche Stadium Friday nights — that ended with a home championship game?

In high school football, you don’t get to recruit.

Well, let me rephrase that. Unless you’re Missoula Sentinel, you have to play with the players living in your district. (Of course, I kid the great Sentinel coach DaneOliver.)

That is one of the reasons why high school football beats the heck out of college and pro football in my book. Those boys wearing Butte High uniforms are truly representing their hometown.

The Bulldogs finished the 2024 season with a 4-7 record, but it was amazingly clear how much Butte High improved over the course of the season. You can see that by the last game, which came one week after winning a playoff game on the road against Great Falls High.

On Sept. 13, Butte High trailed Kalispell Glacier 49-0 before losing 49-14. On Nov. 8, the Bulldogs returned to Kalispell’s Legends Stadium and fell 48-38.

Two unfortunate plays cost the Bulldogs in a quarterfinal playoff game in which, I believe, Butte outplayed Glacier. The Bulldogs outgained the Wolfpack that night, 429-313.

Yes, it was still a loss. But the improvement was obvious. At least it should be.

You might also notice the number of players on the Butte High sidelines during football games. In recent seasons, Butte High has boasted one of — if not the — biggest rosters in the Class AA, even though the school is the 13^th largest in the 16-school classification.

Several factors play into that roster size. I’m sure lots of kids just want to be part of that Naranche magic on Friday nights. They also want to play for Arie Grey.

I have long contended that Grey is the best hire at Butte High over the last 40 years. I’m not talking just about his coaching, either. He is a teacher who cares about every single student in the school

If you have a freshman son or daughter who doesn’t play football — or any sport — you better believe that by this time in the school year, Grey knows your student’s name. He would lie down on the street for that student, too.

All you have to do is attend a Butte High football senior banquet to see how much he cares. Grey usually turns into an emotional basket case in the first minute of the banquet. By the way, he holds those banquets the Wednesday before the first playoff game because he knows he could not handle talking if he didn’t have at least one more game with his seniors to look forward to.

Grey was also among the leaders in the nation when it came to concussion awareness for his players. He worked closely with Dr. Nick Digiovine and the athletic trainers from St. James Healthcare to make sure he was keeping his players safe.

On this subject, he was light years ahead of the competition.

At the Monday practice following Butte High’s 2012 semifinal win over Great Falls Russell, one of his star running backs told Grey that he was having some minor concussion symptoms.

Grey knew that if he sent that running back to the trainers, it would immediately place the player in concussion protocol, and the player had basically no chance of playing in Friday’s championship game.

I know coaches who would have told him to keep it quiet or go lie down. I know coaches who have told players to avoid doctors because they knew the doctor would tell the player not to play.

Grey didn’t hesitate. He immediately sent the player to the trainer. The coach knew the move could have cost the Bulldogs the state title, but he did it because it was the right thing to do.

That right there is the kind of guy I want my son playing for.

Obviously, the Facebook poster, who is a good guy who is entitled to his opinion, wants Grey to move on from the Bulldog football program. I have people I know, love and respect who tell me that Grey should be fired.

They are entitled to that opinion. In America, for the time being, we still have that right.

You have the right to call for the high school to fire a coach.

Maybe the coach rubs you wrong. Maybe he didn’t make the right call on a fourth down play that one time. Maybe he throws the bubble screen too often. Maybe he didn’t play your son, nephew or grandson enough.

There are lots of reasons to not like a coach. And if everybody likes that coach, he is probably doing something wrong.

But if you are calling for Grey — or any high school coach — to be fired, I hope you are not basing that call solely on wins and losses.

If you are, then you just don’t get it.

 — Bill Foley, who covered Grey’s Bulldogs as a sportswriter for 10 seasons, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 or Bluesky at @foles74.bsky.social. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.