Darrah Eggers has a Hall of Fame resume

Apr. 14—Darrah Eggers is a pioneer of small-school athletics in Idaho.

The 60-year-old Bovill native spent four decades putting towns with a triple-digit population in the national spotlight, earning him a spot in the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame class of 2024.

"I got the call, and when they told me that (I was getting inducted), I thought it was a joke," Eggers said. "I was pretty embarrassed. ... There were some other small-school coaches there, and I was thrilled. That made me feel better."

Eggers had a 32-year teaching and coaching career at Clearwater Valley (Kooskia) and Deary high schools.

In 15 seasons as the headman of the Mustangs football team, they made 11 trips to the playoffs and played in six consecutive championship games, winning titles in 1993, '95 and '97.

He set the national 12-13-year-old high jump record in Memphis as an athlete, clearing 6 feet, 1.5 inches.

Eggers was a four-year letter winner at Deary High School in football, basketball and track. He was also named the 1982 A-4 player of the year.

The Deary alum grew up like many others in diffusely populated areas — focused mostly on athletics without much to do in their free time. But his sport of choice wasn't popular in his area.

Eggers started viewing track meets with his family when he was 10 and became infatuated with the high jump event. He was so enamored that he built a jumping pit at his family's barnyard.

It wasn't long before the Eggers' barnyard became a small-time track venue as he added a long jump pit and a two-lane 35-meter sprint area.

He attempted to have some meets at the Eggers' sports complex, to no avail. But he would start his competitive track career by attending AAU meets as a youngster.

Eggers met Bernard Dare, a former assistant track coach at Idaho, during one of these events. Dare saw Eggers' potential and was instrumental in his track journey.

Dare persuaded Eggers to compete in the pentathlon. He set another national mark for 12- to 13-year-olds with 4,809 points.

"He was a great man," Eggers said. "He was huge in all of that. He knew all of the technical stuff, and when he got me into the pentathlon, I didn't know how to pole vault or hurdle. And I won districts, regionals and qualified for nationals."

The second national record was a sweet addition to his resume. But his 6-1 leap in the high jump was legendary.

Eggers topped the podium next to athletes from towns 200 times the size of Bovill, and he made it known by wearing a shirt that read "Bovill, Idaho population 346."

He saw a picture of himself in the infamous outfit for the first time in decades during the April 6 induction ceremony.

"My mom has kept everything," Eggers said. "This one just cracked me up. ... I knew it was my mom, and she pushed that, and it got a laugh. In fact, they're calling me Bovill 346 now."

Eggers became a state long jump champion as a sophomore, and despite being the third-ranked decathlon athlete in the country, he pursued football instead of track after high school.

Eggers spent two years playing football for Spokane Community College and was the starting tailback as a sophomore. But he dealt with a slew of ankle injuries.

"My one regret is that I didn't continue in the decathlon," Eggers said. "Dare continued pushing me to stay with the decathlon, and I had a change of heart and wanted to play football. I had a scholarship to play at Idaho but didn't know if I could play at that level. ... I kept having bad ankle injuries, just rolling it all the time, and ended up having surgery. ... I tore it up pretty bad during spring practice and had to get complete reconstruction. I just ended up transferring to Idaho to finish my degree."

After graduating, Eggers started a three-decade-long coaching career with a four-year stint at Clearwater Valley.

Eggers was thrown into the fire quickly, being touted as the head basketball, football and track coach with no experience.

"I was only 23 years old at the time," Eggers said. "It was a lot of learning on the job. I hadn't coached before. I wasn't an assistant or anything. But I had a lot of good mentors to kind of help me get comfortable."

After his time in Kooskia, Eggers departed for his alma mater, Deary, where he'd stay until he retired from education in 2018. He held the role of athletic director for 20 years.

"I read a book back when I first started called 'Make the Big Time Where You're At,'" Eggers said. "It made an impact; at a small level, my kids still deserve the best, and they wanted the best from me. They took the philosophy I coached at Deary, and it'd be the same if I coached at any 5A school, and we spent a lot of time on film breakdown, practice plans and organization. I think the kids respected that, and they bought in and worked hard as well."

Eggers' coaching philosophy and style translated on the gridiron, and the Mustangs won three state titles in his tenure. USA Today even wrote an article about the 1995 Deary team that won State.

"Back then, if you were up 45 points, the game was over," Eggers said. "They never played more than a quarter. They played a total of five games in a 12-game season. I don't know how many points they would've scored if the games all played out."

By the time the class of 1998 graduated, they were 46-2 in their football careers, with their only blemishes being state title losses.

The accolades and state championships got Eggers Hall of Fame recognition. But his career was helped by some good people.

Geoff Pritchard was Eggers' right-hand man on his coaching staff. He ran the defense and coached the linemen.

"I didn't know him until I moved here, and we just clicked," Eggers said. "It's rare someone has the same work ethic and philosophy as you. We just aligned really well and worked hard behind the scenes. ... We spent hours in the parking lot talking about football. Practice would get over at seven, and we'd still be talking until midnight."

Doug LaMunyan, now the principal of Clarkston High School, was also pivotal to Eggers' coaching staff.

"I'm humbled by this award," Eggers said. "But there's so many coaches better than I was. Unfortunately, state championships are the measuring stick. ... There are so many coaches that influence kids, and there were great coaches that never won a title. It's a shame, but I was fortunate. I wouldn't trade those years for anything. I'm fully aware there's a lot of people that don't get the notoriety."

One of the most memorable seasons for Eggers wasn't capped with a title. He wasn't even supposed to be the coach.

Eggers was a few years removed from his days as the Mustangs' skipper and was on a fly-fishing trip with his wife in 2017. But he noticed some familiar faces coming his way.

Jalen Kirk, a senior on the team and now the boys basketball coach at Deary, and his father Ryan, who was coached by Eggers in 1992, tracked him down with a typed-out note asking him to return to the sidelines.

"That was pretty meaningful," Eggers said. "I always hear that kids today don't work hard, but that group worked as hard as any group I ever had. They were coachable and talented. We lost in the semifinals to Carey. It was a great year. They did everything I asked, and I was only around them for that season."

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks