North Bend has turned to another Far West League school to find its new football coach — a man with a great pedigree and two of the most famous pupils to come out of the state in recent years.

The Bulldogs have hired veteran Douglas High School coach Rick Taylor to replace Bill Masei, who is leaving North Bend for the head coaching job at Dallas High School near Salem.

Taylor has taught at Douglas for 24 years and coached football a total of 16 years, in two different stints. He led the Trojans from 1984 to 1995 and again from 2003 to 2007. Among the players he coached at one time or other are current NFL veterans Troy Polamalu and Josh Bidwell, both Douglas graduates.

Taylor has fielded some outstanding teams at Douglas, but that wasn’t the only reason he was chosen from a field of 19 applicants.

“He’s going to be a great hire for us,” said North Bend athletic director Boyd Bjorkquist. “From the football standpoint, he’s going to be awfully good. From the character standpoint, he’s going to be great.”

Masei was quick to endorse Taylor for the position.

“He’s a solid coach and a solid person,” Masei said. “I’ve enjoyed working against him as an opposing coach. His teams are always well-coached and have great sportsmanship. He’s just a class act.”

North Bend has looked beyond just wins when hiring its coaches, and Taylor fits right in with that philosophy.

“For us anymore, we are concerned about how people coach kids and their relationships with them,” Bjorkquist said. “He is concerned about kids.”

Masei echoed that thought.

“I remember three years ago, when we had an injured player at North Bend,” he said. “Before I could get out to assess my player’s injury, Rick Taylor was there, checking on the player. He’s the only coach who’s done that.

“He took time to call me during the week to check up on how the player was doing. It makes me realize that class is something that sticks with you. You do it 24-7. It’s a habit.”

Taylor, in turn, said North Bend’s philosophy played a big role in his decision to apply for, and ultimately take, the job.

“They’ve got a great handle on all those things that make kids experiencing high school good,” he said, adding the school has outstanding academic programs, administrators and teachers, to go with the athletic program.

“Those are combinations you just don’t see in one school very often,” Taylor said.

Taylor also loves North Bend’s facilities, which include the FieldTurf surface that was installed last year. And he knows he’s coming into a good program.

“What’s really nice is what a strong base for everything a coach could want has been established by Bill and all the other coaches and administrators in North Bend,” he said. “It’s nice when you don’t have to build things from the bottom up. You’re stepping into a class program. That’s really important to me.”

Taylor’s teams at Douglas have specialized in the option, while North Bend has run a wing-T offense under Masei. The Bulldogs’ new offense likely will be some combination of the two.

“We’ll be a little more like they were than we were in the last few years,” he said. “I’m real excited. It’s almost a combination of what we’ve done and what Bill has done with his wing-T teams. It will work well with the kind of kids North Bend has and also work well with the turf.”

In addition to working with the players, Bjorkquist looks forward to how Taylor interacts with North Bend’s staff.

“We do have a young coaching staff,” he said. “He’ll be a great mentor for our young teachers.

“He’ll fit in with our teaching staff and our coaching staff.”

Masei thinks the players will like playing for Taylor.

“He’s a player-first coach,” Masei said. “I’m excited for North Bend football.”