When the 2025 prep football season begins this Friday with a game at Rec Park, the “new look” Greyhounds will take the field with a new roster of starters, including some significant returns—and a new coach in Taylor Tappin.
It’s getting to be an old story: This is the third straight year a new coach will take control of the team, the sixth time in eight years. That must be counted as a factor for the disappointing record the Greyhounds have run up since their last winning season, 2013. Perhaps, say the faithful again, this year will be different.
Much has been made of Tappin’s local roots—his grandfather Harry Tappin was a “legendary” basketball coach at Healdsburg High. But Tappin’s certainly not just a legacy hire: the 6-foot-4-inch-tall 29-year-old played two years of varsity football at Windsor High, then took his skills as offensive lineman to Sac State. While working on a civil engineering degree, he moonlighted as a professional player in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the United Football League (UFL). According to Wikipedia, Tappin announced his retirement from football in February 2024.
Even while still playing for the pro leagues, he couldn’t stay away from Sonoma County, returning as an assistant coach first to Windsor then to Analy. Last year he coached under first-year head coach Criss Rosales at Healdsburg High. We spoke with him following an after-school practice last week as the team headed for the locker room, asking about last year’s season.
“Last year I helped out with the offensive line and strength conditioning,” he said. “And helped a lot with the run game, and overall whatever was needed.”
Being a head coach is different than being a line coach, however, as Tappin is well aware. When asked whether he’ll do things differently than Rosales this year, he answered, “Probably a few things. I mean everyone is going to have their different preferences on what they want to do. So there’s definitely some different stuff, but not too much.”
One common element between last year and this is Frank Rea Jr. Though still only a junior, this year he’ll be the starting quarterback, filling the shoes of Nova Perrill.
Rea is a multisport athlete. In the 2024-25 sports seasons, he was also a point guard with the Greyhound basketball team, and second baseman in spring baseball. “There isn’t a lot of stuff athletically that Frank can’t do,” Tappin said. “We’re pretty fortunate to have a guy like that back there.”
Last year’s football statistics proved he can run, and team practices over a year ago demonstrated he could pass for distance and accuracy. But he’s still only a junior, and one must ask if he has the characteristics of leadership and control that a quarterback must project.
“He’s definitely a good player to build a team around,” the coach said without hesitation. “He’s got a positive attitude. He works hard, knows his stuff, does everything that a coach could ever want a guy to do.”
Other returning all-league players include senior receivers Max Morris and Hayden Mariani, all-league lineman Isaiah Robles, and others. The team will be playing at less than full strength for the first three games, as several players are in suspension due to a final-game dust-up last season against Sonoma Valley. The starting lineup will be affected, and possibly the results, but come Game 4, Sept. 19 in Willits, the Greyhound team will be playing at full strength.
When asked what fans should expect of this year’s Hounds, Tappin said, “Just come out and be ready to see some good plays, good football, a lot of plays being made, some good athletes and fun stuff.”
Last year’s coach, Criss Rosas, was disappointed at not lasting longer than one year, a situation he ascribed to “egos.” But he’s landed where he wants to be, as quarterback coach and offensive co-coordinator for Montgomery, under their new coach Anthony Bautista.
The day after we spoke with Tappin, the football team got up early and boarded a bus for a multi-team scrimmage with Casa Grande, Montgomery and Santa Rosa also on the field. Then it was back to another week of practice and run-throughs before the season’s first game, against Fremont’s George Washington High (4-7 last year) under the “Friday Night Lights” at Rec Park.
Friday, Aug. 29: Healdsburg vs. Washington varsity football. 7pm kickoff at Rec Park.
