Ty Tomlin went 43-35 in eight seasons as the coach at Lebanon of the 5A Mid-Willamette Conference. (Chase Allgood/OregonLive)
Ty Tomlin went 43-35 in eight seasons as the coach at Lebanon of the 5A Mid-Willamette Conference. (Chase Allgood/OregonLive)

McMinnville has hired Ty Tomlin as football coach.

Tomlin went 43-35 as the coach at Lebanon for the past eight seasons. In 2016, he guided the Warriors to a 12-1 record and the 5A championship.

What is the appeal of McMinnville for Tomlin?

“It's just the allure of a one-horse town and wanting to build it, to take it to another level,” Tomlin said. “Kind of wanting to do that process.”

Tomlin said he “didn't anticipate where I'd end up” after stepping down at Lebanon.

“It really just kind of happened,” he said. “It was faith that really sort of guided me there. I was sort of thinking about leaving the state, doing something like that. And then McMinnville kind of popped up. I took a trip out there one day and really liked the town. I thought it would be a great place to put in some time.”

Tomlin's father, Don, was Lebanon's coach from 1984 to 1998, and his brother, T.J., was Newberg's coach from 2010 to 2016. T.J. Is an assistant at West Salem.

“I'm trying to get him to come with me,” Ty Tomlin said.

McMinnville and Newberg are about a half-hour apart in Yamhill County.

“My brother really enjoyed the people in the area he was in, and I felt like it would be a lot of the same,” Ty Tomlin said. “He was really supportive.”

Ty Tomlin replaces Ryan McIrvin, who stepped down after going 25-29 in six seasons as McMinnville's coach, including 2-4 this year. McIrvin is McMinnville's athletic director.

The McMinnville release:

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It is with great excitement that McMinnville HS announces Ty Tomlin as our new Head Football Coach.  

Coach Tomlin began his coaching career in 2003, spending time as an assistant football coach at both Sprague and West Salem. In 2013, he returned to his hometown of Lebanon, OR to become the head football coach at Lebanon HS. Since taking over the Lebanon program, Coach Tomlin and his staff have established Lebanon as one of the upper tier programs in the highly competitive Mid-Willamette Conference as well as the entire 5A classification. In addition to coaching football, he has also assisted in baseball at Sprague, West Salem and Lebanon.

In 2016, Coach Tomlin led Lebanon to the 5A State Championship, Coach Tomlin also served as an assistant coach on the 2004 Sprague HS championship team. Coach Tomlin's teams at Lebanon have established themselves as a competitive program that plays a tough and disciplined style of football Throughout his tenure, Lebanon has displayed a high producing offense and consistently strong defensive units.

Coach Tomlin is excited to begin a new chapter in his coaching career at McMinnville HS and McMinnville HS is excited to welcome him to our school and football community. In addition to coaching, Coach Tomlin will also teach at MHS. While at Lebanon, he taught Social Studies, served as the school's AVID coordinator and the past few years as the Dean of Students. At this time, Coach Tomlin is in the process of moving to McMinnville to begin summer workouts.  

There will be a meet and greet with Coach Tomlin for all football players and families on Tuesday, June 15th at the stadium.

Welcome Coach Tomlin and Go Grizzlies!!