Thomas Jefferson High School athletics will have some familiar faces in new roles come this football, basketball and girls soccer season.

Scott Morgan is taking over the head coaching duties of a football team fresh off a league title in 2015, the school’s first since 1980. Morgan has coached at Jefferson for two different stints, from 2002-2007 and 2010 to the present.

“When I first started here we were successful if we won one game,” Morgan said. “I’ve been here through the ups and the downs, and it’s been a lot more ups lately than downs. It’s been a shift, and I’m happy that I’ve been a part of it.”

Morgan, a Spanish teacher at Jefferson, describes himself as a teacher and a motivator in all facets of his life. Himself a member of Central Washington University’s Division II NAIA National Championship football team in 1995, he envisions a Raiders football team that can see lessons in a loss — everything is a teaching moment — in order to motivate themselves to finish the job next time. With that buy-in, Morgan feels a foundation for perennial success will be constructed and predisposed.

“I want to be able to be a great program with our circumstances,” Morgan said. “The thing I want to be able to push is to get to a place where winning is habit.”

Morgan takes the reins from Jeff Zenisek, who coached Jefferson for two years but departed for 2A’s White River High School last month.

On the hardwood, Class of 2001 Jefferson graduate Sudon DeSuze will make the jump from C-Team to Varsity head coach. From the get-go, DeSuze wants his players to compete and take pride in constantly moving forward as a program — with that, they’ll leave a legacy.

“I want to continue the trend of being competitive. I want to see this next era embrace the grind of working hard for something and leaving this school proud of how they left it,” DeSuze said. “Satisfaction is the death of desire.”

In his time donning the Raiders maroon and gold, DeSuze lettered three times, was a team captain and was an all-league selection for both his junior and senior years.

He went on to play at South Puget Sound Community College and Pacific Lutheran University, earning all-league honors and captain status at both schools.

“I bleed Raider pride,” DeSuze said. “I am just honored and excited at the same time to be at the helm of the program.”

New girls soccer coach Josh Hauck is also a decorated graduate from Jefferson.

Hauck was a defensive stalwart along Jefferson’s backline in his time on the pitch, including being a member of the Raiders’ state championship-winning team in 2005. Hauck also lent his talents to the gridiron as a wide receiver, earning multiple all-league selections.

“TJ has always had a large impact on my soccer career,” Hauck said. “Now having the opportunity to bring back some of that tradition to the program makes this a dream come true.”

Hauck makes a transition from JV boys soccer to running girls varsity soccer. In running his new program, Hauck said he’ll make sure business gets taken care of on and off the field — but with that, fun will follow.

“All players in our program will strive for academic and athletic excellence,” Hauck said. “We’re going to work hard, we’re going to work smart and we’re definitely going to have a good time along the way.”

Jefferson Athletic Director Gracie Holden hired the three new Raider coaches and sees each change as an overwhelming positive.

“They’re great teachers and mentors… they lead by example,” Holden said. “It’s cool to not just have amazing coaches, but mentors as well that are going to help these kids grow.”