An oversized 6-sided die, made of red and yellow foam, rests on the table before Jared Gervais, Auburn Mountainview’s new head football coach.

On a white board hung on a nearby wall, the coach has written in blood red marker six consequences for breaking the rules, each involving some kind of extra running or drills.

“I’ve kind of discovered I’m a lot stricter than I thought I would be,” said Gervais, 26. “It started in spring. We’d start practice at 3:05. If you’re not here at 3:05, you roll the dice. Unless you bring a note from a teacher, there are no exceptions, sorry, too bad, you’re late.”

Although Gervais is preparing for his first ever season as a high school football head coach, he’s already learned one of the profession’s most important lessons.

“One thing I’ve learned about high school kids is that they’re pretty aware of when you’re consistent and when you’re not,” he said. “When you have a consistent rule base, they’re pretty good about following it. But they know when things aren’t fair.”

This season Gervais – who will also teach science at the school – takes over the Lions’ varsity squad, looking to lead the boys to their first playoff appearance in school history.

And although Gervais, a 2008 UW graduate and a 2004 graduate of Puyallup High School – where he was a starting varsity quarterback – is new to head coaching, he brings a wealth of coaching experience and a notable coaching lineage to the job.

His uncle is Skyline and Eatonville head coaching legend Steve Gervais, who has led teams to six state high school championships in his career, amassing a 244-83 win-loss record in more than 30 years of coaching. In addition, Gervais’ father, Chris Gervais, is a longtime junior high coach, including a stint at Sequoia Junior High in Kent.

“I’ve seen a lot of coaching at different levels in my day and I think that has prepared me,” Gervais said.

After his playing career at Puyallup, Gervais attended the UW, where he earned a degree in microbiology. He had hoped to attend medical school and become a doctor.

“Then my uncle got the UW running back’s job, and I got a call from him,” he said.

The Huskies hired Gervais as a student assistant coach. He interned with the defense.

“I got to go up there and work with the team for a year, and I fell back in love with coaching and decided this is really what I wanted to do with my life,” Gervais said.

After UW’s dismal 0-12 season in 2008, Gervais moved on to an assistant job at Orting High School.

In 2010, however, when former-coach Craig Spence was named Auburn Mountainview’s new head coach, Gervais got a call.

“He knew me up at the UW,” Gervais said. “So I mostly just worked with receivers during varsity games. I really got to know the kids.”

This past spring, with Spence’s return in question, Gervais took over the team’s spring camp.

“I just got thrown into the fire,” he said. “And I got everything organized with gear, figured out how to make practice plans and got familiar with the offense. So that really forced me to get organized quick.”

This summer, when Spence resigned, Gervais got the call to take over the reigns of the Lions. For him, it’s a dream job.

“I keep telling them they’re stuck with me for awhile, I’m not planning on going anywhere,” Gervais said. “I really like the school, that’s what drew me up here. The administration has been super supportive of me. And I got to know the other teachers when I student taught up here, and I just feel like it’s a really good atmosphere. They’re definitely ready to support good football. And I really like the kids here. They’re a good group and they have a lot of energy.”

With official turnout day just around the corner for football – Aug. 17 is the first day of practice – Gervais looks to inspire the Lions, who finished 4-6 last season, to finally turn the corner.

“I think this year they’re looking good so far,” Gervais said. “We’ve done a couple of passing leagues and I’m pretty happy with them. Their attitude is positive. They’ve been receptive to myself and the coaching situation. They want some stability. They just wanted to know what was happening, and once they made the announcement I was coaching, they responded well to that. I think they’re better than they think they are. I think they just want stability and a plan. We’re definitely there with a plan now.”

Although Gervais has lost the services of former-UW player Darin Harris, who left to work with the Seahawks, he will look to assistants B.J. Tucker, Kevin Ishimoto, John Tomasi and Brian Grout to help him this season.

In addition to his head coaching duties, Gervais will run the offense for Auburn Mountainview.

“We’re gonna run the spread, throw the ball around and play fast,” Gervais said. “That is our goal this year, play fast. They know what to do and they’ve looked great. I’m pretty flexible with everything, which I tell everybody is one of my strengths. I’m not stuck in any of my ways. The only thing that I’m stubborn about right now is the offense. My family runs the spread, that’s all we know. And that helps that they know we’re running four wides (receivers), and that’s what is going to happen.”

Gervais continued:

“Our goals this year are to compete in the league and get to the playoffs,” he said. “I think we have a good chance at doing that. It’s not something that’s going to happen in a day up here. And we have to accept that. I think there are some good things that were done here in the past, and it’s just building on them and starting some new traditions.”

The Lions open their 2011 season with a non-league game against Sumner at 7 p.m. Sept. 2 at Sunset Chev Stadium.