McNary High School has a new head football coach. Celtics Athletic Director Scott Gragg announced today that (soon-to-be) 27 year old Connor Astley, a longtime assistant coach, has been tabbed to replace Jeff Auvinen.
Auvinen stepped down July first after seven years at the helm of the Celts gridiron program. Astley said Auvinen’s departure was not totally unexpected, as he had hinted at his possible resignation in casual talks with the coaching staff.
Astley is excited about being named as head coach.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for myself and my family, and I’m incredibly honored to have this experience.”
Don’t expect the Celtic offense to vary much from what has been on the field in recent years. Both Astley and assistant coach Kyle McGrath helped to develop the current version of McNary’s spread offensive scheme. Astley will spend the next few weeks developing his coaching staff for the upcoming season.
Astley has been a social studies teacher and coach at McNary since 2018. After graduating from Sprague in 2013, Astley played college football at Southern Oregon University, and was part of the Raiders’ 2014 NAIA national championship team.
He says that the authentic legacy of his late college coach, Craig Howard, will be carried on at McNary in terms of developing young people who excel in all phases of their lives.
“It is something I will be emphasizing—developing people of character, strength, and honor to be high school graduates and upright individuals,” said Astley.
Astley and his high school sweetheart, Kayla, have been married for 2 ½ years. They welcomed their first-born son Jensen to the family this past spring.