Mike Cocke on his coaching success in Tacoma: 'It was never about Xs and Os. It was about caring about kids, and getting them to trust you'

Cocke resigned after coaching the past four seasons at Silas High School - and the 10 previous seasons at Foss, leading the Falcons to the Class 2A boys basketball title in 2016-17

Mike Cocke is a Tacoma guy. He played basketball for longtime coach Dennis Buchholz at Stadium High School. And he's been in charge of two of the best metro high school boys programs in the city.

But after 14 seasons at Foss and Silas High Schools, Cocke is pivoting to an equally-important responsibility - sports-fan parent.

Cocke, 47, resigned last week after four seasons as boys basketball coach at Silas, citing a desire to spend more time watching his two youngest children play sports in the Sumner School District.

After winning the Class 2A title with Foss in 2017, Cocke leaves as one of five Tacoma metro boys coaches in Tacoma to win WIAA state championships in the post-World War II era, joining Jack Heinrick (1959 at Stadium), Ron Billings Sr. (1975 at Lincoln), John Ruby (2000 at Foss) and Tim Kelly (2001, 2002 at Lincoln).

In 14 seasons - 10 at Foss and four at Silas - Cocke's teams never missed the postseason. He compiled 244 career coaching victories.

"I’ve always felt if Tacoma could find a way to keep kids locally, and develop them and allow them to continue to grow - the (city) league gets better," Cocke said. "And if that happens, they will compete with anybody across the state."

Cocke's crowning achievement came in 2016-17 when his Foss team was undefeated 2A SPSL champion, and won four games in the Yakima Valley SunDome, including a final 83-73 victory over Selah, to captured the state championship.

Much of that same coaching staff, including Phil Corin, Perris Wright and Doug Cocke, joined him when he took the head position at Silas in 2018, replacing David Alwert.

He led the Rams to a fourth-place finish at the Class 3A championships in 2019-20, and had arguably his best team returning the following season - but that was delayed until the following spring (with no playoffs) because of COVID-19.

Last winter, standout junior Cayden McDaniel (knee) was lost before the season started. The Rams finished 8-10, losing to 3A PCL rival Spanaway Lake in the West Central/Southwest District tournament.

"It's been a different experience coaching after COVID a little bit," Cocke said. "It changed some things. To get back to normalcy has been challenging. But the team I had this year, I appreciate all of them."

Cocke said his success can be linked less to strategy and playing style and more to caring about the people in the program, especially the players.

"We were just a bunch of guys all from Tacoma who understood what (coaching) was about, and we wanted to give kids an outlet," Cocke said. "It was never about Xs and Os. It was about caring about kids, and getting them to trust you."