New Coach, Same Grit: Seahawks Look Ahead to 2025 Season

When the Seahawks take the field for the first time this season against Gig Harbor at Mount Tahoma Stadium, Peninsula fans will see a lot of familiar faces in green and white — and one big change on the sideline. For the first time in three decades, someone other than Ross Filkins will be leading the team.

That job now belongs to Clay Mauro, a defensive-minded coach with a résumé built on energy, connection, and a belief that football is as much about culture as it is about X’s and O’s. At only 30, Mauro steps into one of the state’s most stable and pressure-packed programs, succeeding the winningest coach in school history.

The Nevada native and former Concordia University linebacker led Green Valley High School in Las Vegas to consecutive state tournaments for two years as head coach before moving to Purdy. He joined the Seahawks in 2024 as linebackers coach and was named head coach less than eight months later.

Mauro takes over a program coming off its first back-to-back losing seasons in 20 years. Peninsula finished 4-6 (3-3 in the Puget Sound League) in 2024 and missed the playoffs in 2023 for the first time in nearly 20 years, not counting the shortened 2021 season. But he isn’t daunted.

He describes himself as a “dad figure” with a quirky sense of humor, unafraid to butcher Gen Z slang to get a laugh. But beneath the easygoing vibe is a coach who expects energy, effort, and grit.

“I just love this place,” Mauro said about Peninsula. “It’s a real Americana style of football, and our guys are stepping up like we expected them to.”

Mauro’s first Peninsula roster is a mix of proven leaders and rising talent. The centerpiece is senior lineman Royal Charles, a two-way force, who earned first-team all-league honors on both offense and defense last season. At 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds, Charles is as comfortable making holes on offense as a tackle as finding them on defense as a defensive end.

“He’s just so consistent,” Mauro said. “He brings such an edge that makes him dominant on both sides of the ball.”

Around him, the Seahawks bring back a fast and physical defensive front. Preseason all-state defensive lineman Asher Epstein anchors the D-line, joined by senior Yashua Finodi and gym rat Mason Dahlgren. All three linebackers return from last year, led by senior captain Nehemiah “Nemo” Grandorff, a 100-win wrestler who Mauro calls “a stud.” He’ll play a hybrid linebacker-safety role this season. The secondary has fresh faces, but veterans like senior Trever Bingham and junior Logan Johnson are expected to steady the back end.

“I think we’re going to be just fine on defense, as long as nobody plays outside our ‘11 as 1’ mentality and does what they’re taught to do,” Mauro said.

On offense, junior Talen McDonnell and senior Jacob Wiseman went head-to-head for the starting quarterback job this offseason. Mauro praised both as “great quarterbacks,” but opted to think long-term, giving the younger McDonnell the keys to the offense.

Wiseman, a proven playmaker, will play tight end, though his touches won’t be limited. Mauro likens him to New Orleans Saints’ do-it-all weapon Taysom Hill, often called the NFL’s “Human Swiss Army Knife.”

“Jacob’s such a good athlete and gives us a lot of versatility,” Mauro said. “We can line him up anywhere, and that element of surprise makes our offense fun.”

Wiseman, Bingham, and others give McDonnell options in the passing game, while the running game will lean on physicality up front, with senior Jacob Martin, an all-conference selection in 2024, returning to lead the ground attack.

Peninsula’s season opens the same way last year’s did — with the 47th annual Fish Bowl game against crosstown rival Gig Harbor Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. The 2024 edition still stings for Seahawks fans.

Last September, Peninsula held a 10-0 lead in the third quarter, only to see the Tides score twice in 64 seconds to win 14-10. The loss evened the all-time series at 23 wins apiece and marked Gig Harbor’s first back-to-back Fish Bowl victories since 2014-15.

Mauro knows the stakes.

“Week one against Gig Harbor is huge,” he said. “It sets the tone. I wish it came later in the schedule so we could hit it full speed, but it’s a fun way to start right out of the gate.”

With only three home games on the 2025 slate, the Seahawks will spend plenty of time on the road against a tough PSL schedule. Curtis looms as a juggernaut, Timberline is an under-the-radar threat, Lakes is a perennial contender, and River Ridge is learning under a new coach, according to Mauro. He doesn’t forecast any easy wins.

But Mauro is less concerned with predictions than with preparation.

“We can’t control the outcome, but we can control how we prepare,” he said. “If we show up with grit, respect, energy, effort, and never give up — the things our green line stands for — we’ll put ourselves in position to win.”