If  the schedule for football coach Ryker Ely wasn’t busy enough – he was getting ready Friday afternoon for the rehearsal to exchange wedding vows Saturday with Julie Gray in Ellensburg – he’s about to add a  little more to his plate.

Ely, a 2013 Granger High School graduate and son of longtime Spartans coach Gary Ely, is set to become the Ellensburg football coach. Sources confirm that the final details need ironed out, but he would replace Zeke Fife, who resigned earlier this month and was relocating to Texas after two seasons leading the Bulldogs.

The younger Ely spent last season as the defensive coordinator for Toppenish. The Wildcats finished last season 4-6 overall and 3-5 in conference, a game ahead of Ellensburg in the CWAC standings.

Before Toppenish, he spent three seasons as the head coach at Mabton, helping with the transition to eight-man football in his season, when the Vikings finished third in the Southeast 1B Grape behind state powers Liberty Christian and DeSales.

Ely played quarterback in his father’s ground-oriented attack, and also played defensive back. He returned to Granger after graduating from Eastern Oregon, where he played receiver for two years before retiring due to injury, and was an assistant on the Spartans staff for a season.

He then was at Kittitas for five years, serving as offensive coordinator and special teams coach, before taking the Mabton post.

The Elys met twice while league mates, with dad winning both times – 34-0 in 2022 and 42-8 the following fall.

“Yeah, the old man was my second phone call!” the younger Ely messaged Friday about letting people know about his new gig.

The Bulldogs, 2-8 overall and 2-6 in CWAC play each of the past two seasons, will travel to Othello and Grandview in the first two weeks of the season. Both programs also will have first-year coaches.

Hall of Fame coach Roger Hoell retired after leading the Huskies for 31 years, and racking up 238 victories, including two state championships.

Othello hired Jerome Learman, who has spent the last four years as the director of applied performance science for the University of Tennessee football team in Knoxville.

Grandview made Beau Riley, who assisted on various staffs in Texas. The replacement for Alex Jeffrey. Riley’s wife had received a promotion in the medical field that brought the family to the area.