New Lincoln coach brings football skills, and more

Ben Cochran has been hired as the head football coach at Lincoln High School and he will be hoping to use his experience both as a running back for Pacific Lutheran University’s 1999 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) III national championship football team, and all that he learned from his coach Frosty Westering.

He also is determined to foster the kind of family and community values he represents as the winner of a Jane Russell Fellowship. He wants to bring all those positive messages to a football team that is coming off a successful season, having missed the playoffs by one game.

“There is success on the football field, and there is success in life. These guys (on the football team), we want them to understand and obtain both,” he said.

Cochran will replace D.J. Dobbins, for whom he was an assistant last season. Most of Lincoln’s football staff members will remain with the program.

Cochran, 30, earned his degree in physical education and teaching credentials from Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) and graduated in 2002. He taught physical education and health at Ford Middle School from 2002-05, and completed his master’s degree in instructional technology in 2006.

Cochran is the recipient of a Jane Russell fellowship. The Russell Family Foundation, based in Gig Harbor, promotes contributions toward “innovative community impact.”  Cochran is beginning a project called More Than Champions, which works to help high-school students. The core aspects of the project include character development, training (body, speed, etc), education and counseling, and motivational work.   

One example of Cochran’s family approach to coaching was the pizza party he had for the team when it returned to school after completing the last day of its passing-league last week.

“It’s just a way to stay connected and communicate once football is over,” he said.

During the past school year at Lincoln High School, Cochran was employed by the Metropolitan Development Council to teach a federally funded program called College Bound that focuses on first generation college-bound students. He also served as a volunteer coach for Lincoln’s football program during this time.

Cochran graduated in 1997 from Gladstone High School outside Portland, Ore., and, as an all-state linebacker and fullback, was heavily recruited throughout the country. He selected PLU and was named Most Valuable Freshman on Westering’s team. In 2000, he began coaching for Howard Lutton at Franklin Pierce High School. Cochran then coached football at Ford Middle School from 2002–06.

He served one year as a volunteer coach at Stadium High School. Cochran has also directed summer sports camps and the Late Night program at McIlvaigh Middle School, and worked in the Late Night program at Peoples Community Center. Cochran, his wife and their three children live in South Tacoma.  

Dobbins is leaving Lincoln after three years as head coach to become a police officer, and will attend the Tacoma Police Academy later this summer.

Administrators determined an interim coach would work best for the upcoming season, because the high school football season was to begin only a few weeks after losing Dobbins. When the 2008 football season is over, the Lincoln head football coach position will be opened.

The Abes ended last season with a tough 20-14 loss to Bellarmine Prep that prevented Lincoln from gaining the fifth playoff spot in the Narrows League.

“We have some good athletes coming back,” Cochran said. “And it always depends on how many kids we get out for the team.”

By building on last season and the winning culture that Dobbins was trying to recreate, Cochran hopes participation in the football program will begin increasing, the key to long-term success.

Commenting rules