By Sam Settar

It all started in 1989, after a phone call from Charlie McFall, Collegiate’s head varsity football coach and Athletic Director at the time, asking Trip Featherston (‘87) if he would be interested in helping coach the 7th Grade football team. 

This call sparked Featherston’s love for coaching and working with kids. While a student at Collegiate, Featherston played three sports: basketball, lacrosse, and football. One year, he even played four when he joined the track team. He then attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where he majored in physical education. 

Photo courtesy of Collegiate School.

In an interview with The Match, Featherston noted that he has enjoyed the culture that Collegiate has developed from when he was a student to now as a teacher. Today, he is a 7th Grade boys advisor and is the head of the Middle School PE program. He currently coaches varsity football, JV Green basketball, and JV lacrosse. He has two daughters, Ginnie (‘21) and Ellie (‘25), whom he also coached in their time at Collegiate. His wife Kate works as a Lower School Librarian here also.

The sports he has coached at Collegiate are the same sports he played as a student. Back in his playing days, his favorite sport was basketball. He described it as “the most exciting sport to play.” He has coached over 100 teams at multiple different levels: Cub, JV, and varsity. He enjoys coaching all levels for different reasons. At the JV level, he is able to coach players when they are younger and then see them shine when they play for the varsity team. “Coaching varsity level is exciting too, as it is the most competitive,” he said. While Featherston said his favorite sport to coach is basketball, he enjoys coaching all of them. 

A special time that stands out to Featherston were the seasons he coached Russell Wilson (‘07). Featherston was Wilson’s quarterback coach when Wilson played varsity football for McFall. Featherston described Wilson as someone you could not take off the field. He played all over the field: at quarterback, defensive back, kick returner, and punt returner. Featherston said he knew that Wilson was special during his time here, and Wilson went on to play college football and baseball at North Carolina State University, eventually transferring to the University of Wisconsin for his final football season. Wilson was drafted into the NFL with the 75th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. He has played for the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers, and is currently on the New York Giants. He even won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks in 2013.

The Featherston family. Photo courtesy of Trip Featherston.

Another noteworthy season Featherston was a part of was the state championship football team in 2016. By this time, other teams in the area had started recruiting players to come to their school for football, while Collegiate had not. Beating the odds, Collegiate won the State Championship with Upper School Dean of Students Mark Palyo as head coach at the time. Featherston continues to guide varsity football players alongside head coach Colin McConaghy.

Featherston noted some similarities from when he was a student at Collegiate to now as a current teacher, including the strong community. “Everyone is supportive and makes you feel welcome. That has not changed since I started here.” He said the campus looks different, and “old classmates and friends who have not been back since they graduated with me are surprised to see how different Collegiate is when they visit.”

Featherston likes building connections with kids in Middle School and seeing their progression through school and sports all the way until 12th Grade. He continues coaching every year because, as he said, “it is exciting to see the kids grow up.” He gets to teach them in the classroom and then coach them out on the field or court. He is fortunate to meet some of the kids when they are in 5th Grade and then be with them for eight years until they graduate, developing strong relationships with them as students and athletes.