Written by: Brandon Baney
It’s one of Idaho’s toughest rebuilding jobs: restoring the gridiron glory at Parma High School. Many have tried over the past decade, but whatever progress is made screeches to a halt due to changes in leadership.
Sixteen years ago, coach Greg Asbury’s Panthers were finishing up a back-to-back run as Idaho’s Class 2A champs. Those 2007 and 2008 title winners represented the high point in school history, and while the downturn was gradual, it’s picked up an alarmingly quick pace over the past decade.
The last time Parma finished at .500 or better was a decade ago, when the Panthers went 5-5 in 2015, under coach Jake Walgamott. That was also the last time Parma reached the postseason.
After Walgamott stepped down in 2018, Parma went on a run of five head coaches in five consecutive seasons: Daniel Jenkins (2019), Alex Willson (2020), Cassidy Kotte (2021), Justin Koogler (2022) and Jarome Bell (2023). The Panthers went 2-41 during that stretch.
Now, for the first time in five years, the same coach will lead Parma into battle in two consecutive seasons. Bell begins his second season at the helm with optimism. A number of underclassmen learned on the job during an 0-9 season in 2023, but that group returns bigger, stronger, and sharper for 2024.
“We bring back nine starters,” coach Bell emphatically states. And just to be clear, that’s nine starters on each side of the ball.
The group is headlined by senior tight end and defensive end Jacob Mikelson. He’s joined up front by junior offensive linemen Wyatt Troyer and Liam Sutherland. Troyer and Sutherland will also contribute on the defensive line.
Joining Mikelson at tight end is junior Colton Davison, and junior wide receivers Nahome Krohn and Will Murdock return to give Parma some weapons in the passing game. On defense, Krohn will play in the secondary, Murdock will play outside linebacker, and Davison could play either position.
Coach Bell could have possibly had ten returning starters, but junior Cutler King, a two-way starter at wide receiver and defensive back, transferred to New Plymouth.
Ironically, King will line up against his old Parma teammates, as the Panthers moved down a classification level under the IHSAA’s new enrollment guidelines. So instead of facing perennial 4A powers Homedale, Weiser and Fruitland, Parma will instead be a member of the 3A Western Idaho Conference, with solid teams like Melba, Nampa Christian, New Plymouth and Marsing to contend with.
The drop down will only help Parma as they attempt to rebuild their program, but, according to coach Bell, so will “…staying healthy and hopefully having greater numbers overall.”