“That was a major big rivalry back then,” Richter said.
Now they'll be working side-by-side, coaching Florence's perennially strong softball team. Florence athletic director Sam Baerlocher announced this week that Richter has been hired to coach softball, replacing longtime coach Mike “Otto” Thill, who stepped down after 10 successful seasons.
For Daniels - the former Kelly Price, who played volleyball at Missoula Big Sky and for one season at the University of Montana - it's the first go at coaching a Montana High School Association-sanctioned sport.
Richter, meanwhile, spent the past spring as an assistant softball coach at Missoula Sentinel. Before that, he started a softball program at tiny Dutton High School, where he taught from 1987-89.
“Basically, I played a lot of softball - 40-some years,” said Richter, who taught for several years and is now owns and operates First Aid LLC. “My playing days are coming to an end, kind of, and I just wanted to share my experience with the younger kids.”
He's taking over a program that has had only one head coach: Thill, who guided the Falcons to a 178-82 record and five Class B state championships, including the last three.
“Expectations are very high, obviously,” Richter said. “But I'm not going to fix anything that isn't broken.”
He figures to benefit greatly from McKay, Thill's longtime assistant. McKay didn't apply for the job, and told Richter he'd stay on to help.
“That was a major plus for me,” Richter said.
Daniels enters the coaching world with a limited, though shiny, resume. She played four years of volleyball at Big Sky, the first three before the sport became MHSA-sanctioned.
“I don't think we won a single match the first three years,” she said. “We had an amazingly awful record. But it became a sanctioned sport in 1984, and we weren't practicing in the middle of the night anymore.”
That drew more athletes. Daniels played setter, and along with teammates such as current Big Sky girls basketball coach Marti Leibenguth, won the augural State AA tournament.
Daniels was the most valuable player for the tournament, and the next fall played for the University of Montana and coach Dick Scott. But then she stepped away from the sport and got married. Her husband, Rich, is the chief financial officer for Allegiance Benefits. The Daniels have four children, ranging from age 19 to 13. Daughter Kayla is entering her sophomore year of volleyball, and mom began getting more involved last winter as a parent volunteer.
“I do have a good amount of fundamental training I could pass onto the girls,” said Kelly Daniels, who takes over for Lexi Ranstrom, who left Florence for a teaching job in Corvallis. “My kids are a lot older now. After last season, I decided that maybe it was time.”
Volleyball practice begins Aug. 14, and the Falcons open their season Aug. 31 against Superior.
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