MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon football team has a brand-new coach — and he’s bringing a breakneck style of football with him.

The Mount Vernon School Board on Wednesday approved the hiring of Jaxon Schweikert, a veteran prep coach from Idaho, to take the reins of the Bulldogs.

Schweikert replaces Benji Sonnichsen, who stepped down in May after guiding the Bulldogs to a 6-5 record and a playoff berth last season.

Mount Vernon fell to Ferndale in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs.

Mount Vernon athletic director Dave Riddle said he is excited about Schweikert’s hiring.

“He has had some success as a coach. He has a plan of what he wants to do, and the plan has been successful at other places,” Riddle said.

Schweikert coached at several high schools in Idaho, most recently Filer High School, where he began coaching in 2003.

Before that, he was head coach at Pocatello (2001-2003), Moscow (1998-2001) and Firth (1996-1998). The group includes schools both small and large; Pocatello, which had about 2,000 students, was in Idaho’s largest prep classification, 5A, when Schweikert coached there.

Schweikert is a proponent of a fast-paced style of football — a style that includes a no-huddle offense and shotgun formation.

“We try to play at two speeds: fast and really fast,” he said. “We try to spread it out and try to get guys the ball in space.”

Schweikert said that in his early days as a coach, he was more a fan of a run-heavy style, but over time that changed.

“We got more and more kids (with the fast-paced style),” he said.

“They love it. It’s a fun experience. It’s fast-break basketball on the football field.”

Schweikert said the style he prefers can be seen at the college level with teams such as Texas Tech and Oregon.

“I think you could characterize it as an exciting, fast-paced style of play,” he said.

While Schweikert has met a few students, his first exposure to many of his potential players will be at a football team camp that will be held beginning Monday.

“We’ll be bringing a couple coaches in to coach in the camp on what we do and how we do it,” he said. “It’s big to get everyone on the same page right away.”

Trevor Pyle can be reached at 360-416-2156 or by e-mail at