Excellence Starts with Leadership: Feather River Coaches Drive Historic Year for Golden Eagles Athletics

Championship banners tell part of the story.

Trophies tell part of the story.

Awards tell part of the story.

But behind every championship team, every all-conference selection, every postseason run, and every milestone achievement is a coach whose leadership helped make it possible.

The 2025-26 academic year will be remembered as one of the most successful years in Feather River College Athletics history. The Golden Eagles captured conference championships across multiple sports, celebrated state and regional postseason success, produced conference Players of the Year, All-Americans, All-State selections, and national award recipients, and continued to establish themselves among California's most successful community college athletic programs.

As the year came to a close, one common thread connected nearly every accomplishment.

Coaching excellence.

The success achieved by Feather River student-athletes this year was reflected in an extraordinary collection of coaching honors earned throughout the department.

Sarah Ritchie was recognized twice, earning Coach of the Year honors in both indoor volleyball and beach volleyball after leading the Golden Eagles to conference championships in both sports. Her indoor volleyball program continued its remarkable run by capturing a second consecutive 3C2A State Championship, while the beach volleyball team advanced to the Final Four of the 3C2A State Championships.

Nick Goulet was recognized following a memorable football season that saw the Golden Eagles capture the American Pacific-7 Conference Championship and finish the year with a bowl victory over previously undefeated De Anza College.

Conrad Gooley guided Feather River Men's Soccer to another Golden Valley Conference Championship and earned Coach of the Year recognition after leading one of the conference's most successful programs.

Derek Jensen's men's basketball team completed an undefeated conference season and secured another Golden Valley Conference Championship, earning him conference Coach of the Year honors as well.

Beyond the conference level, Feather River's success extended across California and throughout the West.

Rodeo Head Coach Zack Brown was selected as the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association West Coast Region Coach of the Year after leading another outstanding season and helping send four Golden Eagles to the College National Finals Rodeo, the sport's most prestigious collegiate event.

Meanwhile, longtime Head Baseball Coach Terry Baumgartner earned one of the highest coaching recognitions awarded in California community college baseball when he was named Northern Region Coach of the Year by the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association. The honor came following another remarkable season in which the Golden Eagles advanced to the 3C2A State Championship Tournament and finished among the top programs in the state.

Taken individually, each award is impressive.

Taken together, they tell a much larger story.

Feather River College sponsors just nine intercollegiate sports within the 3C2A. During the 2025-26 academic year, Golden Eagles coaches earned conference, regional, or statewide Coach of the Year honors in football, men's soccer, men's basketball, indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, baseball, and rodeo.

Those recognitions were not the result of a single exceptional season by one program. They were the result of a department-wide commitment to excellence.

The recognition earned by its coaches serves as a reminder that sustained success is never accidental.

It is built through leadership.

And throughout the 2025-26 academic year, the leadership displayed by Feather River College coaches helped produce one of the most successful years in the history of Golden Eagles Athletics.