Tyler Maes was the quarterbacks coach and JV offensive coordinator at Sandy the last two seasons. (Photo by Brennan East)

Tyler Maes remembers better days for David Douglas football. As the starting quarterback in 2008 and 2009, he helped lead the Scots to a combined 12 wins.

Since 2010, though, David Douglas has not finished with a winning record. The Scots have won a total of four games in the last four seasons.

Now it's up to Maes, a first-time head coach, to turn the team around. He has replaced Jay Williams, who went 1-8 and 2-7 in his two seasons as coach.

“There's been a ton of alumni that reached out to me after getting hired, and they're really excited that I'm in the position,” Maes said. “They know what it means to me, and to the community, and what it can be.”

Maes has assisted in the football and basketball programs at David Douglas for much of the past decade. He spent the last two football seasons as an assistant at Sandy under former Scots coach Josh Dill, but continued teaching health and PE at David Douglas.

He believes his intimate knowledge of the southeast Portland school will help him elevate the football program.

“David Douglas is a really unique area,” Maes said. “The school is so big, but such a high percentage of our kids come from diverse backgrounds, and in football particularly. Sports in general are just sort of off a lot of our kids' radar. They're really just trying to survive and go to school and help their family.

“My hope is that being an alumni, and being someone who's taught there, that the kids will see my deep-rooted passion and interest and care for the place, and start to take some pride in it. There's a little bit more personal business for me to get it back to being respectable.”

Maes first joined the David Douglas staff as a volunteer assistant in his first year out of high school. He left to attend college and came back to become the Scots' freshman offensive coordinator at age 22.

He coached under Dan Wood, Dill and Cal Szueber at David Douglas. When Szueber resigned after the 2023 season, Maes considered applying for the head coaching job, but opted not to because his wife was pregnant with their third child. Instead, he chose to assist near his home in Sandy, where he served as the quarterbacks coach and JV offensive coordinator the last two seasons.

Upon Williams' resignation, David Douglas administrators encouraged Maes to apply for the head coaching job. Maes, who is moving into an assistant athletic director position this year, was eager for the opportunity.

“We have a ton of support with our administration, which is super helpful,” he said.

David Douglas moved from the 6A Mt. Hood Conference to 5A Special District 1 last season after meeting OSAA criteria to drop down one classification. The Scots, outscored by an average of 30.0 points per game in 2024, cut that margin to 16.1 in 2025.

“My hope is to stay in 5A for the next two years, for sure, and then kind of re-assess and look at where we're at,” Maes said. “We want to play games where we can compete. Right now we're definitely not there. Even if we jump back to 6A, we probably wouldn't be ready to be there.”

This season, David Douglas will play in 5A Special District 1 with Centennial, Gresham, Hood River Valley and Sandy. The Scots' schedule also includes games against St. Helens, McNary, Reynolds, Putnam and La Salle Prep.

“Our schedule this year is incredibly manageable, which is exciting,” Maes said. “Aside from Hood River and Sandy, every other team is in the same boat as us, like, 'Why can't we compete? Why can't we go get some wins?'”

Maes said the first four games – against St. Helens, McNary, Reynolds and Putnam – represent an opportunity.

“I don't know why we can't win all four of them,” Maes said. “We can have some positive momentum and help create buy-in early.”

Maes said the Scots return the entire starting back seven on their defense and “a lot of returning talent at the skill positions,” including 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior running back Malakai Fong and a third-year starter at quarterback in senior ZaShawn Perez.

Fong did not play football until his freshman year but has quickly developed, rushing for more than 1,000 yards in eight games last season. He has an offer from Pacific.

“He's got good feet and good vision, but he definitely can run people over,” Maes said.