Athletic director of Sandpoint High School, Kris Knowles, has officially confirmed that George Yano Jr., a former assistant at Highland High School in Pocatello, will be the new Sandpoint football head coach.

Yarno will replace Satini Puailoa, who has coached Sandpoint for 14 years in two stints. Puailoa’s teams had a combined record of 84-62.

Yarno has been coaching since 2008 since an offensive line coach, a defensive line coach, and an offensive run game coordinator.

From 2008-2012 he was at Highland High, and moved to Las Vegas and coached at a high school there from 2012-2013. Yarno returned to Highland in 2014 to win a 5A state title, and has coached there for the past two years.

Yarno was born in Spokane, and grew up in Moscow, attending Moscow High. Today, Yarno’s family lives in Spokane and frequently vacations in Sandpoint.

“Sandpoint has been a place where I always wanted to live,” said Yarno. “I played against Sandpoint High School when I was at Moscow High, and I always remember those guys thumping us. It’s a good program to be a part of.”

Yarno shares the same name as his father, George Yarno Sr., who played at guard for Washington State University, as well as ten seasons in the NFL, playing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, and the Houston Oilers. He also spent many years as an assistant coach at the collegiate level at institutions such as Washington State, University of Idaho, and Louisiana State University. He also spent some time coaching in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Detroit Lions, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Yarno Jr. played one season in 2004 at the at the University of Nevada, having 2 starts at center as a freshman. He then transferred to Idaho State University, where he had 33 consecutive starts at center from 2005-2007. Yarno was named all Big Sky 2005-2007, and was also named an all American in 2007.

Yarno worked one on one with offensive lineman Tristen Hoge ever since he was in middle school. Under Yarno’s tutelage, Hoge was rated the number one center in the nation when he was recruited in 2015. Hoge now plays for the University of Notre Dame.

“You’ve got to be adaptable, you’ve got to be innovative, you’ve gotta run something that fits with the type of players you have,” Yarno said regarding his offensive philosophy. “For example, if I have a lot of big strong linemen, we will run the ball a lot. If I’ve got a lot of great receivers that can catch the ball and a quarterback that can throw, we’ll throw the ball a lot.”