UMATILLA — Dan Durfey has put in his time.

From the moment his son, Trent, began Grid Kids football, through this past season at Umatilla High School, Durfey has been calling plays on the sidelines.

Now that Trent will be a sophomore at Carroll College, Durfey wants to see his son play college football.

“I decided last fall when we got done,” Durfey said of resigning. “I tried to go watch Trent play during the season. I thought, this isn’t going to work. We’d leave after a game, get to Coeur d’Alene at 2 a.m., then get up early and just make it to his game. I decided not to do that any more. At least until he’s done. It’s actually pretty nice right now not worrying about the paperwork.”

In his five years leading the Vikings, Durfey had a 19-21 record. During that time, he was able to coach his son and hundreds of other kids.

“I coached Trent in Grid Kids,” Durfey said. “In middle school I was going to kick back and be a dad, but they didn’t have a coach and they asked me. Then I became the defensive coordinator at the high school, and that turned into the head job. Some of these kids have seen me since Grid Kids.”

Durfey will be replaced by Chad Smith, 34, who has a long coaching history despite his age.

“Last year, I sat out with COVID going on, and I was finishing my administrative license,” Smith said. “That year off, I missed coaching and I knew I wanted to get back into it.”

Smith also will teach at the alternative school in Umatilla.

“I will work with kids who need to make up credits or who are getting their GED,” he said.

Smith graduated from Sweet Home High School in 2005, and even though he didn’t play football in college, he knew he wanted to coach.

“My first head coaching job was at La Grande (2014, 5-4 record),” he said. “I have been at lot of different places. As an assistant, I saw things I liked and things I didn’t. The things I liked I tried to put into my team. I want to make this a great program here on the eastern side of Oregon.”

Smith was an assistant at 6A Sheldon from 2005-06. He also assisted at Sprague (2008-10) and Mercer Island, Washington (2017).

Other head coaching jobs on Smith’s resume include Seaside (2016, 2-6 record), Siuslaw (2018, 0-8) and Cottage Grove (2019, 0-8).

At Umatilla, Smith said he will have six to eight seniors and a lot of underclassmen.

“I got a survey back from about 30 players,” he said. “Whether they come out Monday is another story. We have some talented players. With work schedules, we haven’t seen everybody at the same time. We have been lifting weights since the end of June. We get 12 to 15 kids lifting, then we run through some plays. When we start on Monday, it’s all about the fundamentals.”