North Fremont coach who led team to football quarterfinals in his first year takes job in Salmon

IDAHO FALLS – After a successful year as head coach of North Fremont High School’s football and baseball team, Keith Director has been hired to lead Salmon’s football program.

Director was hired several weeks ago and is now gearing up for the Savages’ upcoming season.

During the 2024-2025 season, the Huskies made it to the quarterfinals in football and the state playoffs in baseball.

Director tells EastIdahoNews.com why he’s accepting a job in Salmon after such a successful year.

“For me, it was intriguing,” Director says. “It was exciting for me to put my own stamp on a program that lacked structure and discipline. I’ve been given a similar opportunity to leave a mark in Salmon (and bring the football program back) to what it once was.”

Director replaces Quaid McCreary, who stepped down after one season to take an assistant coaching position at Carroll College in Helena, Montana.

It’s been nearly two decades since Salmon won a state title. Its last championship victory was in 2008, according to Craig Larson, Salmon’s athletic director. Coach Tyrell Penner last led the team to the playoffs in 2019.

Penner will be returning this season as Director’s assistant coach, which Director is thrilled about.

Director also invited Sony Galvan, who owns a fitness gym in town with his wife, to be involved as well.

“He coached for a while and I knew he was part of the success the program had on the field and in prep off the field in strength and conditioning,” says Director.

Similarly, Director says the last time North Fremont won a state title was in 1989. His decision to leave after such an eventful year wasn’t easy. He and the students formed a special bond and he’s thrilled with the team’s progress over the last season.

“Most first-year coaches do not see (this type of) success,” he says. “For us to get to the quarterfinals in my first year was really rewarding.”

The baseball team has never made the playoffs. It was equally fulfilling for Director to lead the school’s largest baseball team to date to an attempted state victory.

“We had 17 baseball players when they typically average nine to 10 players,” Director explains. “That is awesome to have that kind of a turnout.”

Jason Wright was hired as Director’s replacement in North Fremont, someone Director hand-selected for the role. Although the school district made the hiring decision, Director saw Wright’s potential as a future head coach. He hopes to see the team’s success continue under his leadership.

“I’m leaving the program in a really good place,” says Director. “All the systems are in place. He (Wright) has got everything at his disposal.”

The results in North Fremont created a lot of buzz about Director’s coaching ability statewide. Larson was impressed with Director’s reputation and track record and is eager to see what he can do in Salmon.

“Through the hiring process, I heard nothing but good things about him,” Larson says.

North Fremont and Salmon are two of the five high schools that make up the 3A Nuclear Conference.

Off the field, dozens of clients have worked with Director one-on-one for personal training. He opened Director Boxing & Training last year in the gym he and his wife, Andrea, built on their property in Chester.

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Among his clients are Ben Reinke, Payton Martindale and Bryce Jensen. The trio are members of the football team who placed in the state wrestling tournament earlier this year. Director says the individual training had a direct impact on their results at state. He’s proud to have played a role in their success.

“They were three out of the four guys in the whole school who made it to the podium,” says Director.

Many other adult clients have had their own success stories training with Director.

After a long career working with professional athletes in New Orleans, Director moved to eastern Idaho in 2023. The idea was to retire, but he ended up building a clientele.

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It’s been rewarding for him to see the transformation clients have experienced over the last year.

As he takes on this new role, Director is closing his training business and ending a career that’s brought him joy and satisfaction for more than three decades.

“This is the end of an era for me,” he says. “It’s kind of hard for me to accept, but I’m going to challenge myself in another area. I haven’t figured out yet what that is.”

As he prepares for his first season in Salmon, Director appreciates how welcoming the community has been to him and his wife. He has reasonable expectations going into his new position and he’s excited to get started.

“My goal would be to get us in the playoffs in year one, and that’s going to be a hard enough task. Our conference is loaded,” he says.

Larson has similar expectations. He’s hoping Director will “build a foundation in setting strong principles that will carry over for years to come.”

“There’s a ton of excitement and buzz in our community about (Director coming aboard),” says Larson. “Keith is an exciting man and he will be a very exciting coach for the Savages.”