Cory Archuleta will be the first man to admit that he’s not primarily a football coach. But coaching has been a vital part of his adult life. He served as the baseball coach for Manitou Springs for a few years before the football job came open.

Participation numbers were down and the program wasn’t the most attractive landing spot at the time, a far cry from the late 1980’s and early 90’s when the Mustangs were wining state championships.

Archuleta had a strong relationship with the Manitou athletes because of his time with the baseball team. He was the right guy to take the program over when he was hired in 2016. This season, everything is seeming to click for Manitou.

No longer running the single wing offense like the program had done for much of the last four decades, Archuleta credits his staff of (offensive coordinator) Brandon DeMatto, (defensive coordinator) Chad Hartinger and all-around assistant Stu Jeck of helping the Mustangs usher themselves into a new era.

Now the team is winning and winning big. After topping Manual on April 23 and earning a home playoff game, Archuleta has been named this week’s Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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(Photo courtesy of Angela Guido)

Cory Archuleta bio

Years as head coach: 5 (19-24)

Years at Manitou Springs: 5 (4-1 this season)

Previous stops: Manitou Springs assistant coach (2012-14); Manitou Springs head coach (2016-present)

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Question: Why do you coach?

Archuleta: Well, I got into coaching because I wanted to really give something back to the sports that I played growing up and try to help kids develop as athletes and young men. That’s probably the main reason I coach and then I really have kept coaching because of the relationships that I’ve built with other people on my coaching staffs and with the kids that I’ve coached these last 27 years.

Q: Why do you coach the way that you coach?

Archuleta: I’m just not that prototypical football coach. I coach the kids the way that I coach them to be a quality young men and to treat other people with respect. They don’t need to be beat down. I’m just more of a simpler-type coach from the standpoint that I’m just not a yeller or a screamer. I’m more of a guy that wants to listen to kids and try to help them and help them develop both on and off the field.

Q: From your players’ perspective, what do you think it’s like to be coached by you?

Archuleta: I’m hoping that they know that we are as a coaching staff and myself are going to give them everything we’ve have to try to help them become the best players they can possibly be and to squeeze out all the ability that they have, and to make the most of their high school experiences. And I also think that those kids know that I’m not just their coach. I’m a guy that wants to listen to them and understand them and know that they can come and talk to me, not just about athletics, but life problems or anything like that.

Q: Since dropping your first game, the team has played outstanding football. What’s been the spark behind the last four wins?

Archuleta: It’s just that we’ve gotten better as a team. And I think that coach DeMatto, our offensive coordinator, and coach Hartinger, our defensive coordinator, have made adjustments to the talent that we have. So we didn’t really have an identity in that first game because we knew we had been missing some kids. We had some talented kids that played in that game, but I think we needed our collective group of kids as a whole; our 31 kids to be able to mesh and to improve as a football team.

Q: The last couple of years have been a struggle. Is this the kind of season, even if it’s in the spring, that can reignite passion in football at a school like Manitou?

Archuleta: Absolutely. I’m a Colorado Springs kid, so I’ve grown up in this since birth. I remember when I was in high school, that Manitou when coach (George) Rykovich was here, when coach (Rob) Quarry was with him, I remember Manitou was the football school in our city. I mean, you had guys like (former Denver Bronco) Justin Armour walking the hallways and now we’ve got his kid (Joah) playing for us.

I never thought that the day would come that the interest would kind of die down a little bit with football at Manitou. I always thought there will always be football at Manitou because it was always such a football school. And then the last couple of years, with the way that things have kind of evolved and football’s kind of been in the headlines with injuries and other things, I never thought the numbers would dwindle down into the high-teens, low-twenties like we had a couple of years ago.

So I think that seeing all this, this big senior group of kids finally playing, having the middle school kids watch the games that we’ve played in, having the elementary school kids watch how we’ve this season, I really think that we’ve gotten over that hump. And I think at Manitou, football and the interest in it is going to really going to come back strong.

Q: For years, Manitou was known as that school that ran a single wing offense and you guys have very much gotten away from that this year. Can it be a new era is the team establishing a new identity on the field?

Archuleta: Absolutely. And to be honest with you, everything I know about coaching high school football has come from coach Rykovich and coach Quarry. I’m such a protegé of Rykovich and the single wing. That’s what he’s taught me these last six, seven years that I’ve been coaching that I’ve really kind of come to know the single wing.

But Coach DeMatto and Coach Jeck wanted to switch it up a little bit and spark an interest. I think the excitement level of kind of putting the single wing to rest and bringing in something new and exciting really drew the senior group of kids that wanted to have something that was fun, wide open and something that they could really thrive in. And I think that the middle school kids, they’re running the single wing one last year this year, but I think the middle school kids see what we’ve had and how successful we’ve been. It’s been crazy. But yeah, I I think the excitement’s there.

Q: You head into the playoffs this week against the team you finished the regular season against, is there concern or relief in having to go right into a rematch with Manual?

Archuleta: There’s always a concern. I know that the pros say it, the college teams say it all the time, but it’s hard to beat somebody twice, especially in back-to-back weeks and especially against a talented group of athletes like Manual has. It’s going to be hard to beat those guys twice in a seven-day span. But I like our chances. I like the kids that we have. I like the scheme and the things that we do. And I’m really confident moving forward and going into this one.

Q: You have a lot of kids who don’t have a lot of football experience, but those basketball players are coming off a run to the state semifinals. Do you think that’ll help fight off any nerves between now and whenever the season ends?

Archuleta: Absolutely. But I also believe that we just have a group of competitive kids, whether they played basketball or they wrestled. We have a couple of wrestlers. We have kids that have given us quality minutes and quality plays this season. We wouldn’t be anywhere without the basketball kids, but the wrestling kids and kids that played other sports. We have a talented group of kids. I’m just happy and blessed to be able to coach those guys.

Even though it’s his job to be the inspirational guy, Denver South’s Ryan Marini can’t help but be inspired by football players.

He’s seen a player lose his house to a fire and the team had to deal with the tragic loss of teammate Davarie Armstrong to a shooting last summer. After an 18-15 win over Vista PEAK on April 17, the Ravens were voted as the top Class 5A team in the state.

They play with heavy hearts and it had fueled an undefeated regular season. Marini is the guy who takes charge of the team but he’s also the first one to say it’s his guys who make this team special, not the coach. Still, it takes the right kind of leader to help these young men through the tragedies that they have dealt with and push them to be at their absolute best, both in football and in life.

That was certainly the case on Saturday. After the win over Vista PEAK, Marini was named the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Ryan Marini bio

Years as head coach: 4 (18-17)

Years at Denver South: 4 (5-0 this season)

Previous stops: Lincoln assistant coach (2002-04, 2012); Heritage assistant (2005-07); Cherry Creek (2008-09); Denver South assistant (2013, 2016); Littleton assistant coach (2014-15); Denver South head coach (2017-present).

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Question: Why do you coach?

Marini To give me to give my wife a break mostly. Honestly, I kind of have selfish reasons. For 19 years, I think the best inspiration I’ve found is working with DPS kids. They’re the most inspirational kids that I’ve ever worked with in my life. And yeah, I work hard for them, but the stuff they give back to me, it’s just the coolest stories and the most amazing stories. I learn about life from them because they come from such different backgrounds. It’s been awesome to absorb all that and it has completely changed my life, being a coach in DPS.

Q: Why do you coach the way that you coach?

Marini I’m a pretty energetic person. I think bringing the energy and positivity is probably one of my biggest strengths as a person. I really try to transfer that over in the classroom the same way, trying to make things fun. Social studies isn’t always the most isn’t everyone’s favorite subject, but I try to make it fun and try to bring that fun over to football and we don’t get paid for this, so we have to have something. If we don’t enjoy it what’s the point of doing it?

Q: What do you think it’s like to be coached by you?

Marini Entertaining for sure. I tend to be a very outspoken person. I hope in my players think I’m demanding, but I also hope they think I’m someone they can approach and that I listen to them and I hear from them as well. It’s not just a dictatorship. It’s a relationship built on trust.

Q: Coming into this year, a lot of people had Vista PEAK as a favorite to kind of dominate 5A and run away with this Season C title. At what point did you kind of have it in your head that you wanted to be the guy to get that win?

Marini With COVID, we honestly took just took a one week at a time approach, so probably not until about the third quarter. It had nothing to do with the doubt of my kids. I totally believe my kids, we just never set it as a goal. We just said let’s go out and be the best we can be because this is a pandemic and we have very little control. Let’s just be the best we can be every week. Control the controllables. So when we finally got to Vista PEAK week, it was just be great this week. We’re not going to change anything. Let’s just do what we do, make plays and see what happens.

Q: What did you see from your guys that you expected and what did you see from them that surprised you?

Marini What I absolutely expected with this team is resilience. This team has been through so much stuff with losing a teammate, our starting d-end’s house burned down last summer. There have been a million reasons to quit and the kids haven’t quit. I wasn’t surprised when we got down early, a couple of people started to panic, and I just looked at the kids, the mature leaders and told them to relax and do us.

What surprised me is that we’re under-sized. That was a huge team for us to play. I’m always a little surprised with how physical we can be. We coach them to be physical, but when you don’t weigh as much as the people across from you, I was just really impressed with how our defense stepped up physically and really stood up to the best freaking rushing offense in the state.

Q: How much can a win like this reaffirm to your players that they can do anything they want to in life, not necessarily just on the football field?

Marini That’s been the message of our program since I took over. Football is awesome and I want them all to play college football, but in the end, I want you all to be able to fight in life and do whatever it takes in life to be successful. I feel like our program is getting across better and better these days.

Q: You have a bye week this week and then you’ll have that condensed playoff, how do you maintain that one week at a time mentality and also push your guys to strive for this greatness that can be ahead of them the next couple of weeks?

Marini The biggest thing for us is just to identify why we’ve been successful. That’s the key. When you have success, sometimes you just sort of just kind of float along, but you really have to point out to the kids, whether it’s in a film session, whether it’s in practice, whether it’s just talking about their attitudes and lives, why we’re at this moment and to keep replicating that and keep believing in what’s gotten us to this point. I think that’s the key and we’ve been a team that said from the beginning we have to focus on our strengths.

We’re not Cherry Creek, we don’t have everybody huge, big and fast, but we’ve got some big strengths and we really play to those strengths.

Q: In such an unpredictable year, what are you going to remember the most about what you’ve been through with these kids this season?

Marini To see a group of kids truly motivated by the loss of a great friend. Being 19 years in DPS, I’ve seen this situation crush kids and crush teams to where they just never recover because it’s such a traumatic event. To see these kids, just that their resilience emotionally and their resilience in life is what I’ll never forget. Our game against Rangeview when we were honoring Davarie at halftime, we were losing and the kids just rallied again. We didn’t even have a halftime meeting. We went out there and they unveiled his mural and we just sort of had a moment and the kids just bounced back again. And that’s how they’ve been since last summer.

Pat Engle has learned a lot in his time as a football coach. He’s been through his ups and downs while coaching for selfish reasons and later, the right reasons.

He’s taken teams to battle against some of the best squads the state has to offer. This season, he’s seeing the success of that work as the Demons remain undefeated and sit at No. 2 in the Class 3A football rankings.

Oh, by the way, they went on the road to get a win over Basalt, who held the No. 1 ranking in the classification last week. That win alone is worthy of some recognition. That recognition comes in the form of being named the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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(Photo courtesy of Pat Engle)

Pat Engle bio

Years as head coach: 8 (25-49)

Years at Glenwood Springs: 3 (4-0 this season)

Previous stops: Centerburg (Ohio) head coach (2002); Battle Mountain head coach (2002-06); Glenwood Springs assistant (2010-15); Glenwood Springs head coach (2018-present).

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Question: Why do you coach?

Engle: I think the, “why” has changed over the years. This is my 29th season in football as a coach. Early on, if I had to be honest, there were a lot of selfish reasons to coach and now I’ve just realized that this game has given me so much and I would just like to see the kids, experience some of the same joys that I’ve had with football. And I just want to see the kids do well. We have a good group of kids out here.

Q: Why do you coach the way that you coach?

Engle: When I think back to high school and college football,, I saw a lot of good coaching and I was coached by a lot of good coaches and I was also coached by some coaches that I do things differently from. One of the things that I would say is that every year or whenever I get a new coach on staff, I typically have that coach draw circle and draw a square. And within the circle I ask them to write down the name of a coach who was absolutely positively transformative and impactful in their lives and in the square, I ask them to write the name of a coach who was kind of that bad guy, that guy that keeps them up at night just a bit. And we have a conversation about the circle and the square, and then I ask them at the end of our conversation, where do you want the kids to put you? I want to be put in that circle for every kid that we have out here at Glenwood Springs High School.

Q: What do you think it’s like being coached by you?

Engle: I’m a pretty passionate and pretty fiery guy. My kids, in some ways, with what we just did on Friday night, I think they carried some of that passion into that game. I think that they would say that I’m tough, but I’m fair. They’d probably tell you surprisingly, I don’t raise my voice a whole lot, but when I do, it gets their attention. They would tell you that when there’s an issue on the field, I’m going to instruct. I’m not going to make them look bad in front of their buddies. I’m just going to show them how to do it right.

Q: Even in a crazy year like this, how much emotional weight comes with a win over a No. 1 team like you guys were able to do on Friday?

Engle: There was a moment in that game, this is just an amazing moment, and it’s an amazing game to be a part of but it’s exhausting. Coming from Ohio, when I was an assistant coach at my Alma mater and I was the defensive coordinator, I was calling defense against a team by the name of Cleveland St. Ignatius and that team, I believe somewhere from like late 1980’s into the early 2000’s, won 9 out of 13 big-school state titles in Ohio, and that’s not a small accomplishment. And I just remember being on the sideline, calling the defense against that team and I felt the same way. And this is 20 years later, I just felt the same way of every play was contested. Every play was a mental chess match. And it was exhausting.

Q: As much as we always want to say the schedules are tough in the metro areas, you guys on the Western Slope. are running a gauntlet for the next few weeks. How do you keep your boys even-keeled but also energized for each big game that you’ve been facing these last couple weeks?

Engle: We have a 1-0 for the week mentality. We don’t look ahead, and that’s easy to say but harder to do. To be really honest with you, we’ve gotten to a point in our season, four games in – almost five games in, there’s no question about our ability to hit people. There’s no question about our contact. So, we’re trying to back things off just a little bit with regards to contact in practice. We don’t have a whole lot of it. And I would also say that we have lifted weights pretty much four days a week probably since September, so we haven’t really stopped that regimen either. So, we’re trying to keep kids as physically fit as we possibly can.

Q: Do you think this is going to benefit this team, doing what you’re doing well and not letting that physical fitness part of it drop-off in that gap between this spring and the fall?

Engle: If you can figure out a way for me to replace 19 seniors, I would really appreciate it. All kidding aside, our kids here understand the work that’s required to compete. This season is in some ways a direct result of what happened my first two years here, where we played a schedule that included Holy Family, Conifer, Roosevelt, Palisade, Rifle, you go down the list there. And Harrison, all of those teams that I just mentioned, the six teams, they’ve all made the playoffs. We had a war against Roosevelt two years ago and Lane (Wasinger) and I both looked at each other like that was a war. And Roosevelt finds themselves in the in the state finals this past fall. Conifer was a state semi-finalist two years ago. Holy Family is always a buzzsaw going in there. I think our kids just have been through some battles that they don’t necessarily get credit for.

Q: When you think back to what this entire year has been, what are you going remember most about the way that your boys responded to circumstances that were so far outside of their control and the memories that they’re looking to give you this for the spring football season?

Engle: We were in a pretty tight ball game against Montezuma-Cortez. It was six hours on a bus, we’re not going to make a single excuse, but our first half certainly looked like it was six hours on a bus. And I think the score was 7-7 or 7-6, something like that. I walked into the staging room at halftime and I was about to speak. And then many of the seniors just started rattling off this stuff that we had to do better. And I just sat back and I got quiet. They started talking and talking and talking and talking and all of a sudden I looked up, we had about five minutes to go on the clock. I said, “Everything that they just said, that’s what we need to do.” And we went out and scored, I think must have scored 21 points, scored three touchdowns pretty quick, and took control of the game. Against Basalt with five turnovers that we lost, playing the No. 1 team in the state at their place with a hostile crowd. It was a pretty big deal out there on Friday. A very similar thing happened when I walked into the staging room. In fact, I had to calm the kids down. They were so adamant that we have to get this fixed and we have to compete and we’re better than that. Sure enough, the guys came out and we even fumbled. At that point, we had lost two fumbles and two interceptions. We still fumbled the ball two more times, three more times in the second half. So, and to be that resilient and come back and win was absolutely amazing.

There isn’t a perspective of football that Tyson Vigil hasn’t seen. Growing up, he played both 8-man and 6-man in high school before heading to Cornell College in Iowa where he got next-level taste of the 11-man game.

Since graduating, he has become an official and a volunteer assistant at Las Animas before taking the head job a year ago.

This spring, the Trojans have seen early success on the gridiron which has been difficult to come by in recent years. When their season got moved to Season C, a hunger and desire to play Brough renewed love of the the game back to the small town sandwiched between La Junta and Lamar.

Las Animas is the No. 4 team in the CHSAANow.com rankings and Vigil has been named the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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(Photo courtesy of Las Animas High School)

Tyson Vigil bio

Years as head coach: 2 (3-9)

Years at Las Animas: 2 (2-1 this season)

Previous stops: Las Animas assistant (2015-18); Las Animas head coach (2019-present)

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Question: Why do you coach?

Vigil: Well, I got into coaching because I love the sport; well, sports in general, but I’m loving now because I’ve started to understand the connections that I’m making with the players and the lessons that I’m hoping I’m teaching them can carry on for their lives later on. And that makes me reflect back on my own personal athletic career and all the lessons I learned. I started just for love of sports, and now it’s more like a personal connection to the athletes that I’m working with.

Q: Why do you coach the way that you coach?

Vigil: I pretty much coach the way I was coached growing up. I was real fortunate to play for a family of coaches in the Lovato’s when I played at Cheraw High School and they were a very caring, very nurturing, but stern set of coaches and they got the most out of their athletes that they could.

I just modeled myself after them, as well as my dad. He was always a coach for me growing up and he was a lot of the same and it becomes more of a character building thing than it is a wins and losses kind of thing. At least whenever I was an athlete. I just tried to kind of pass that along and pay it forward to the kids that I’m coaching now.

Q: What do you think it’s like to be coached by you?

Vigil: Well, that might depend on who you ask. I think the kids like me and they appreciate the effort that I put forward, but then on the flip side of it one of my best players, my quarterback, is my son.

I wonder, but I don’t think so, but at times there might be a little friction there. Not really, I just worry about it because it’s hard to be coaching an be dad at the same time. He seems so much like me that there’s really not that much conflict involved. If I would put myself in a player’s shoes, I would think that they would look at me like someone who cares about them as a person and as students, more so than just a football player.

Q: One of the, one of the odd benefits I’m seeing with some of the schools playing in Season C this year is that it’s almost like there’s a spark that’s reigniting interest in some programs. Has that been the case at Las Animas?

Vigil: I took over our program last year and I think a fresh change was a start in the right direction. But the fact that we didn’t get to play in the fall was a disappointment, but at the same time, a blessing. The kids realized how much they really cherish participation and competition. We did our best to satisfy that during the fall when we didn’t have football by having workouts.

By the time the actual season rolled around, the guys were hungry and they were ready to compete. And it had been so long, it was just like quenching of the thirst for them. They’re playing the best ball that Las Animas has seen in years right now. I really think it’s a lot of factors involved, but that big, long layoff of no football made them want it and appreciate it that much more. That goes for me too. I find myself rejuvenated as a coach being thatvI was away from the game for so long.

I was fortunate enough, I’m also an official, so I was able to kind of satisfy my hunger back in the fall. In fact, I was fortunate enough to officiate in the 8-man state championship game during the fall season. And I even got to do that with my dad and he and I got to work together. It was little weird to be just officiating and not coaching at the time, but at the same time, I was really missing football as a coach. I think the players felt same way.

Q: Officials tend to get so much grief, does that help your perspective from a coaching standpoint to be able to see both sides of the game?

Vigil: Actually, at times I think that it kind of works against me. As an official, and I’ve been an official a lot longer than I’ve been a coach, I sympathize and empathize with the officials. There are times where maybe I should fight a little bit more for a call that goes against us, but there have been so many times and I’ve had my rear end chewed that I don’t want to be that coach and that guy that I don’t like to deal with.

But at the same time, it also helps me to play my cards right. I know what an official wants to hear and I know what they don’t want to hear. I try to avoid those things that they don’t want to hear. And I try to say the things that will help me. It’s kind of a catch-22 at times but I think all in all having both having seen both sides of the coin, it works to my benefit.

Q: Going back to the resurgence in programs that can happen with this spring season, how do you instill that culture into a team so that hopefully that momentum carries over into the fall?

Vigil: It’s kind of a nice thing, the fact that we’re getting two football seasons out of one year. We don’t have a long layoff with different sports being being played and then, again, having that long wayoff. So we’re going to get through this season hopefully successfully, and we won’t have a very long break before we’re back at it again. My returning players next year will be pretty fresh in terms of both physical conditioning and mental conditioning. I see it being a pretty good thing, really.

Q: We’re asking kids to battle through so much adversity at this point in our lives, how have your boys handled it and what do you think is the biggest lesson that they’ve learned through high school athletics?

Vigil: This has been the craziest year of any kind of sporting or academic year that I’ve been a part of. I think that’s paying off on the field because they’ve had to fight through not being in school and once we did get back in school it looked a lot different than it did back in what I would call regular time. And so they’re having to learn to adapt to life and that pays off on the football field because they can adapt to adversity on the field.
Whenever something goes wrong on the field, they can change things and move forward and do whatever it takes to be successful.

So in some ways, it’s been a bad experience with COVID changing the whole landscape of life, but it’s also providing the student-athletes with the opportunity to be able to adapt, to change and be able to accept the fact that there are some things that are out of your control, but they have to move past those and, and move forward.

Q: Do you think that it helps grow their appreciation of high school sports at the same time?

Vigil: Oh, absolutely. Like I was saying, the fact that these guys were unable to do anything during the entire fall, they realized how much it means to them and how much they get out of it. And myself included, being away from coaching was really difficult, but whenever this season rolled around the season, I really got to soak it in. I really got to make the most of it. And I really got to appreciate the opportunities I’ve been given. And I think the kids have the same mindset.

Putting things into perspective has been the bulk of Ryan Bishop’s work this year. The COVID-19 pandemic alone has brought a new light on how seemingly simple something like playing a football game can be.

Then just over a week ago, tragedy struck in Boulder. The Kings Soopers shooting caught national attention but it was the Boulder community that has been rocked to its core. Somewhere in the midst of all this, the Boulder Panthers had to prepare for a football game.

They took the field for their season opener on March 29 and beat Mountain Range 24-14. For the kids, it was an emotional roller coaster in which they felt pain, grief and joy all in the span of 48 minutes of regulation.

After getting perhaps the most emotional win any team this year has experienced, Bishop has been named the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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(Steve Oathout)

Ryan Bishop bio

Years as head coach: 3 (8-13)

Years at Boulder: 3 (1-0 this season)

Previous stops: Pomona assistant 2005-06); Columbine assistant (2007); Boulder assistant (2008-14, 2017); Boulder head coach (2018-present).

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Question: Why do you coach?

Bishop: For the love of the game and to teach these young men just how important it is through the life lessons that athletics teaches us.

Q: Why do you coach the way that you coach?

Bishop: It stems from my coaches starting with my dad who’s been a coach for 30 plus years. Then it goes to my college coaches that were great role models and inspirations. I kind of consider myself the younger, old school coach. Love them up while you’re yelling at them. Once they know you care, they’re going to play hard for you. And no matter what your coaching style is, they’re going to accept it.

Q: What do you think it’s like from your players’ perspective to be coached by you?

Bishop: When we’re on the field, I think they think I’m a little bit crazy, that at times the apple has fallen very far from the sanity tree. At the end of the day, as soon as we walk off that field that they know they can call me anytime they can text me anytime we can talk about anything and they know no matter what, I have their backs. Even if they don’t like it at that moment, they’ll understand it. So I tell them all the time, you’ll understand why we do what we do and the way that we do things 10 years from now.

Q: We are asking kids to be unreasonably resilient in the last year. How resilient did you find your kids being not only after starting a spring football season and all the emotions that went into that, but especially after what happened in Boulder last week?

Bishop: To be honest, they put things into perspective for me. The level of resiliency that they have and determination and desire and want to and their integrity, it makes you take a step back and look at what you’re doing and not so much looking at the record that I have, but what these young adults are learning. They’re teaching us daily and I can’t say enough how proud I am of our senior leadership, our coaches leadership and the flexibility that everybody has to show up ready to work.

When we’ve been quarantined and now, we obviously had the tragedy happened, they don’t skip a beat. We talk about it, we understand it. We refuse to use it as an excuse.

Our thing this year is we have to stand out. We have to be better than everybody else. We have to be better in our community, be better in our building, do better in our houses. Just because something happens, we can’t use it as an excuse. We have use it as a learning opportunity and we have to stand out because of it.

Q: Sports have a weird way of becoming this method of healing. You saw it after 9/11, you see it during the pandemic when teams finally restarted returning the fields. Usually it’s something that you, me, your players are usually observing. What did you feel and what do you think your guys felt having to be that source of healing in that community?

Bishop: As soon as the lights are turned on and the ball is kicked off, it gives you the opportunity to be in a completely different world for those four quarters. For everybody involved, no matter what’s going on in your life, the tragedy to what’s going on at home to what’s going on at school, you get four quarters to live in a different world. To compete. We talk about all the time about how students want to have fun. Well it’s so much fun when you just get to compete.

And I saw it in our kids last night for four quarters, we got to forget what happened down the street. We got to forget what happened on Monday. And as soon as the game’s over, we get reflect on what we were able to do and how important this game is to our lives.

Every coach says play it like it’s your last play. And you never know with COVID, with the tragedy, with everything when that is true. I just thought with our kids last night, that for four quarters we have pay our respects to those that weren’t able to play this game. And so it was important to our kids. The, the moment of silence was great. We took our time, we took our tears. It was very emotional and it has affected every kid differently. It has affected everyone in this community differently.

Our students know that it’s an open door policy for all our coaches, for administration, for our school, that if you need to talk, let’s talk. During the game, different players play for different reasons and had different tributes during the game. It was nice to be able to kind of be in a different world for four quarters.

Q: How much do you think they’re going to savor that opportunity 10 years down the road when they think back to this year and they’re reading in the history books about COVID and then obviously about the tragedy up the road?

Bishop: I can remember when I was a junior during the Columbine massacre, and you reflect now on just how it affected our entire community. I grew up in Arvada and that was down a Littleton. One of my best friends was a student at Columbine and you reflect back on just how lucky we truly are and how, how blessed are to be able to play any game or wake up every morning and be able to go hug our parents, to be able to call our friends on the phone.

And I think in 10 years, they’re going to look back and know that they paid their respects. A lot of them don’t know how to grieve or how to deal with this. We as coaches, have had the model that we all grieve in different ways and we all need different supports.

And at the end of the day, there’s always going to be somebody, one of these coaches, an administrator or a friend that’s there for you. All you have to do is pick up the phone. And I think they’ve learned that through this last couple of weeks, really through the last year with everything.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Troy Ward has learned very quickly when that consistency is crucial when building a successful football program.

Ward is in his second year as head coach from Rampart after being on staff for five years before that as defensive coordinator. Royer’s departure led to Ward being name as the new coach and he’s been able to keep things consistent while putting his own twist on the program.

Ward started 1-4 as coach of the Rams but has gone 8-2 in his last 10 games. The only blemish for Rampart this year was an overtime loss to Vista Ridge but it was just last week that the Rams beat Class 4A RPI No. 1 Fountain-Fort Carson 17-14.

With such a signature win for his team, Ward earned this week’s distinction as the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Troy Ward bio

Years as head coach: 2 (9-6)

Years at Rampart: 2 (4-1 this season)

Previous stops: Mitchell assistant coach/defensive coordinator (2002-13); Rampart assistant coach/defensive coordinator (2014-18); Rampart head coach (2019-present).

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Question: Why do you coach?

Ward: I coach for the connection and impact that we can have on the kids. We strongly believe here at Rampart that we have to take advantage of every single day of the four years that we have with these kids so that we impact the next 40 years of their life.

Q: What do you think it’s like from their perspective to be coached by you?

Ward: I’m called grumpy a lot. So it’s good thing that have other coaches that are a lot nicer than I am. In all seriousness, the relationship that we build with our kids here, it’s one of mutual respect. They know the expectation is that they show up every day, work hard and get better. That is an expectation that we make clear to them from the time they come in as freshmen until they graduate and have their last practice as a senior.

And that builds a mutual respect between the coaches and the kids. They know that we’re not here just for wins and losses. We’re here to A.) see them walk across the (graduation) stage as a senior and B.) go on and be good members of society.

Q: Do you think the continuity part with you being on staff for so long and then being named head coach when Rob (Royer) left, helped with that relationship aspect?

Ward: Absolutely. None of the expectations changed. None of the overall system things changed. Obviously I put my own little spin on it, but the system that Rob helped install here and the program success that he had here definitely carried over.

The coaching staff didn’t change at all when he left other than the fact that he was gone. So, the continuity for the last seven years has been here. We all know and respect each other. We understand everything about the offense, defense and special team system.

Q: In a shortened season that a lot of people might have thought wasn’t going to happen, just how crucial can it be to a program to get the kind of win you did last Thursday, regardless of what happens for the rest of the season?

Ward: It’s incredibly important for the kids to build on that confidence and success that we had against Fountain-Fort Carson, but in reality that success started in the overtime loss to Vista Ridge. When we lost that game, our kids played incredibly well in that game. And it came down to a 2-point conversion and we came up one point short, but our kids came out of that game knowing that we can play with anybody and we can beat anybody.

So last week against Fountain-Fort Carson, it wasn’t a surprise to our program. Our kids show up every day, work hard and they get better. They’re not afraid to play anybody.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Q: Does it help when you have an established leader on the field like Cale Cormaney? How much does he mean to your program and how much does he help you as an on-field leader?

Ward: Cale is a great player. But even more than that, he is a great leader on this football team. But it’s not just Cale. We have a group of seniors that is providing us leadership, both in production and behind the scenes, guiding these young, younger guys in how to produce in our system and how to live up to our expectations.

Our leadership this year from our seniors has been better than we’ve had in the last four years.

Q: With COVID-19 just wreaking havoc on everyone’s life and especially high school football, what do you tell your kids for the rest of the season, whether you have them for one more week or whether you get them for three more weeks?

Ward: Since we were allowed to start in June, the message has been the same, enjoy every single day and treat it as if it’s our last day because you don’t know if it is every day. We come out here every day that any football team is allowed to practice, play a game, be together as a team. It is a gift right now. We do not take anything for granted. And honestly, we try to make every single day count.

Q: Everyone knows that kids are resilient, but what have you seen in the resiliency for your team specifically that has impressed you and your staff?

Ward: They have great attitudes. One phrase that they hear all the time from us is attitude and effort. It goes a long way. We had a possibility — it ended up not happening — two weeks ago of half of our team quarantined. And that happened during a practice where half of our team had to go home. It ended up not happening, the quarantine was was false.

But immediately, every kid that was out there after the other half of the team left, they were having fun. They were like, okay, let’s go. We’re playing Ironman football. So their attitude about day-to-day changes, being able to adapt and overcome, it has never wavered. They never lowered their heads. They never get upset. They just take it and move on.

Q: What are you going to tell future classes about what the kids had to endure this season and help them kind of maintain that attitude of enjoy every second and relish every moment when they may not be in a situation where that’s more of a reality than you would think?

Ward: We have to take this experience right now, but both as a coaching staff and as a program, as a whole and build off it. The lessons that our kids are learning right now as freshmen all the way through these seniors are things that they’re going to use for the rest of their lives on how to adapt to things that happen.

Life is tough and we are gifted in this high school that we have overall very good families, very good academics in the school, but our kids need to learn that life is not going to be easy. It’s not going to be kind to them.

So in the future, we’re just going to keep reminding them that anything can happen. You never know.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Jake Novotny’s program is finally Jake Novotny’s program. After helping Colorado State University-Pueblo to a Division II national championship, Novotny decided it was time for a new challenge. He wanted to be a head coach.

Novotny was eventually hired at Fountain-Fort Carson after a tumultuous offseason that saw the sudden retirement of longtime coach Mitch Johnson. And while Johnson was a mainstay for the Trojans, and is still highly respected in the community, Novotny has put in the time and the effort to slowly transform FFC into a program guided by the vision of him and his loyal coaching staff.

And this year, the results of that vision are being seen. The Trojans, off to a 4-0 start and behind a fantastic season from running back Q. Jones, are showing that some of the best football in the state is being played off I-25 at exit 128. Following a big win over Pueblo West last weekend, Novotny is being honored as the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Jake Novotny bio

Years as head coach: 5 (24-35)

Years at Fountain-Fort Carson: 5 (4-0 this season)

Previous stops: Heritage assistant coach (2009-12); Colorado State University-Pueblo assistant coach (2012-16); Fountain-Fort Carson head coach (2016-present).

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Question: Why do you coach?

Novotny: I coach to take young men where they can’t take themselves. I coach to be a role model and a mentor, and really prepare young men to be great citizens, fathers and overall just to be a good person when they graduate. I hope kids, when they leave our program, can say that’s what they’ve gotten out of our program.

Q: Who were some of your inspirations when you were playing that got you going down that path?

Novotny: Number one is my dad. My dad was our coach when I was younger. He was a youth basketball coach. He never was a high school coach, but he always instilled that love and passion for me to want to coach, we’d have conversations at the dinner table with him about it when we were young. I would say my high school coaches Larry Gile and Chris Enzminger and guys like that were great to me when I was younger at John F. Kennedy High School.

Ever since then, I can think of a mentor I’ve had. Mike Greibel, John Wristen, Donnell Leomiti — all those guys have been paramount in mentoring me to be where I am today as a coach.

Q: How big of a challenge did you see it when you accepted Fountain-Fort Carson as your first head coaching job?

Novotny: Given the circumstances surrounding the job, it was definitely a challenge to try and come in with when there was turmoil and different things going on. I didn’t think coaching the kids was going to be a challenge. I didn’t think instilling our philosophy would pose as a challenge. I knew what all those outlined factors would be.

I think that’s also kind of who I am. I’m somebody that likes being challenged and likes to attack something head on really put my stamp on something.

I think the challenge was everything that was surrounding it. It’s paid off tremendously for me and my family just in the experience you’ve had the last four or five years.

To answer it directly, it was a big challenge initially, but I don’t think anything worth having is not going to come with some, some type of challenge or adversity.

Q:You took some lickings your first few years. This is the year where everything kind of seems to come together. How much of that is the kids buying into the program? How much is it that everyone’s healthy? How much of it is it just feels like it’s your year?

Novotny: It’s a little bit of all that. I think 100 percent of it is surrounding our program with good people. We have a great coaching staff. I have 18 coaches and we have not turned over our coaches very much at all in the last five years.

The first year was rough. We had only five and we coached all three levels. Those original five are still with me to this day. And so to me that says a lot about what we’re trying to get accomplished when you have good people that want to stick around and continue to invest in the lives of young people.

That’s a big part of it, having consistency and continuity within our coaching staff because that message gets passed down through all levels.

And then it is everything that you said: It’s a case of buying in. They’re starting to see the benefit of our weight program and our culture that we’re trying to build. All of that is coming to fruition, quite honestly.

We have 30 seniors and their leadership and what our coaching staff has done to develop them as leaders is really the biggest reason why we’re having the success that we are. This group of seniors is really special and they want to leave a legacy.

When you have great leadership and the players are the ones driving the leadership and the culture and the coaches don’t have to, which the first couple of years was very coach driven, when you have those types of things happen, then you have the success translate on the field that we we’ve been lucky to experience this year.

Q: You were very vocal when the opportunity presented itself that the kids should be able to play in the fall. What did you see as the biggest benefit in getting them out there sooner than later?

Novotny: I saw kids in our community, in our program, in our school, I saw them struggling in May and June. The ones that we were lucky to have contact with through Zoom and FaceTime and all the different virtual things that we’ve come to know as the way of life right now, we stayed in contact with our guys as soon as we went on quarantine and kids were struggling mentally.

The up-and-down and the uncertainty of playing or not playing specifically for seniors was really difficult. For us, I think that the benefit is that we’re giving these guys some type of normalcy. We’re giving these guys an outlet away from all of the different things happening in the world that are so up and down and chaotic right now.

That was the biggest thing and giving these, specifically the seniors, a senior year as close to normal as possible. That’s been the biggest benefit and it’s helped our guys as I’m sure it has across the state. It’s helped them tremendously with just their mental makeup and their mental health.

I think that’s been the biggest thing. I see kids smiling and I see — gosh our grades were not where they needed to be when we started this thing. And now our F-list has been cut down by 75 percent and it’s been a good thing.

It’s been a good motivator for our kids in every shape and form. It’s been good for our community and our school. Everyone is excited to be a part of what our kids are doing right now.

Q: What have you learned about yourself and what have you learned about your kids through the COVID-19 pandemic?

Novotny: I’ve learned that our kids are resilient. I’ve learned that they will handle anything that’s put in front of them as long as there’s a clear plan and there is communication. And I think that’s my job.

That’s what I’ve learned the most about myself is that in times of uncertainty and adversity and things that maybe aren’t going the way you want them to, strong but calm leadership and direction and preparedness and communication will help guide you through that. I, as well as my coaching staff, have done a phenomenal job at that.

And I think that’s what I’ve learned most about myself is that no matter if it’s something big like the COVID-19 crisis or something small like a play not going your way in a game that how you approach anything is how your team and those that you are lucky enough to lead will approach it. I’ve learned that, but most importantly, I’m proud of our resiliency of our kids.

Q: I know that everyone sees this season as being fortunate to get out there and get the opportunity to play. Do you see your focus ever shifting to finishing what is turning out to be a special season for you guys?

Novotny: Look, winning is hard no matter what level you play. No matter the circumstances it’s presented with. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to be out there and 100 percent I’m blessed that we are doing that. I’m glad that we’ve been given the green light.

If we’re going to do it, we want to do it the right way. We want to do it to the best of our ability. We don’t ever want to just go out there just to be out there. I don’t think that the circumstances surrounding the season lessen what the season is. And I certainly don’t think there’s any type of asterisk or any type of “yeah buts” when it comes to this season.

If anything, to me, the circumstances surrounding the season make it even that more special because of all the uncertainty and all the different things that we’re trying to balance as coaches and as teachers, that our kids are trying to balance as students and players, trying to stay healthy, not only just through the rigors of the game, but stay healthy through the pandemic and dealing with grades and learning through virtual systems.

All of that stuff has added things that have made this even more of a battle than a normal season would be. It makes it that much more special to be out there and to have any type of success when you get that opportunity.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Jay Madden is a no nonsense guy. And that’s exactly why he’s good at what he does. In any given year, Madden’s Pomona Panthers are likely to contend for a Class 5A state championship. They hit paydirt with a big win over Eaglecrest in 2017, but have had a shot at a state title in several other seasons.

Madden has his team off to a solid start this season at 3-0 and that includes a close win over then No. 6 Ralston Valley last week. A tough game with Columbine is still ahead but being 3-0 against tough 5A competition is no fluke. As a result, Madden has been named the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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Jay Madden bio

(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Years as head coach: 26 (214-85)

Years at Pomona: 18 (3-0 this season)

Previous stops: Golden defensive coordinator 1992; Alameda assistant coach (1993-94); Alameda head coach (1995); Dakota Ridge head coach (1996-2000); Mullen head coach (2001-02); Pomona head coach (2003-present).

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Question: Why do you coach?

Madden: Because I love helping kids accomplish things they didn’t think they could do.

Q: Whether it’s winning state title or seeing a kid maybe breakthrough at a certain level, what’s the most satisfying part of coaching for you?

Madden: Just watching kids grow and much they mature and how much they get out of this experience. It’s not about state championships and that stuff. To me, it’s about watching kids become better people and better football players.

Q: Who had an influence on you that made you want to become a coach?

Madden: My dad was a head coach was my dad was coaching high school for 35 years. So my dad would be number one. And then Ed Kintz, my high school coach, and Gary Klatt, my high school coach, would be the other two.

Q: Through all the time that you’ve been doing this, what’s your measurement of success, especially if it’s not about state titles; what makes a team successful in your eyes in each individual year?

Madden: Maximize your potential. Try to win one more game than you should. And as our goal every year with this team is a nine-win team, we want to try to win 10 games. If we’re six-win team. We want to try to win seven. We want to maximize our potential, no matter what that might be.

Q: With this year being obviously the most unusual of years you’ve probably coached, would it be safe to say that these kids will get a learning experience playing high school football that is unique to any other class that you’ve taught?

Madden: Absolutely. This has been the craziest time of our lives, obviously, but these kids have had to be so resilient and as coaches we’ve had to be resilient because the roller coaster ride we’ve been on is hard to handle. Certainly you have to step up, you can’t just roll over, so you’ve got to step up and make it happen.

Q: What do you think it’s like from your kids, from your kid’s perspective, what do you think it’s like to be coached by you?

Madden: Demanding. Fun. We want to build relationships that last forever. I want them to know how extremely proud I am of them.

(Steve Oathout)

Q: Who comes to your mind when I ask you who who’s the most memorable kid that you’ve ever coached and not necessarily from what they were able to do on the field. But if someone were to ask you about kids that you’ve coached previously, who always jumps in your mind and why?

Madden: Wow. Clint Parker. Just an incredible, incredible human being. And we lost him way too young. So that’s why he pops into my mind the most.

Q: When you have a situation like that, how do you use it to make sure the kids are truly appreciative of the chances that they’re given when doing something they love like playing high school football?

Madden: We have an award named the Clint Parker Dog Soldier Award, so that’s the kids we talk about being unselfish and being there for each other. And I think they’ve had to do that a lot this year. So that’s why having Clint as our backdrop is pretty good.

Q: What’s the toughest thing for you to do from a coaching? What’s the most difficult aspect of the job, which then also would probably make it the most rewarding?

Madden: I love it all. The only thing that bothers me is the paperwork and the all that kind of junk that we have to deal with eligibility and all that stuff. As far as coaching goes, I love it all.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do on a daily basis when it comes to coaching your kids?

Madden: Just the interaction in the weight room that we haven’t had this year, you know, get to know people and, I love film. I just love to sit down and watch film and try to figure out how to stop people and how to score points. I also just love implementing it every Monday and Tuesday.

Q: What was the most memorable part of that state championship win a couple years ago? It was quite a thriller with you guys and Eaglecrest.

Madden: Yeah, I think we were up by 14 and then next thing you knew we were down by 14. Watching Ryan Marquez get that last first down was something I’ll definitely never forget.

Q: What are you hoping your former student-athletes, whether it’s today, whether it’s 20 years down the line, if you’re no longer coaching by then, what do you want them to remember the most about you?

Madden: Just how passionate I was about them and the game of football and trying to help them become better people.

(Lance Wendt)

(Photo courtesy of Bill Forgey)

Bill Forgey just sounds like a man who means business. He initially got thrown into the coaching ranks when a middle school wrestling coach was needed and he hasn’t looked back since.

Now prowling the sidelines for Walsh’s football program, Forgey is hoping to lead his team to a winning season. Despite dropping the first game of the year he steered the team back on path with a 16-12 win over Branson/Kim last week.

That win was good enough to make to him the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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Bill Forgey bio

Years as head coach: 5 (13-23)

Years at Walsh: 5 (1-1 this season)

Previous stops: Walsh assistant coach 2011-15; Walsh head coach (2016-present).

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Question: Why did you get into coaching?

Forgey: It started with wrestling. I wrestled and played football in school. And then (Walsh) was needing a junior high wrestling coach. So I stepped up there and then our high school coaches left and I took over that. My kids all graduated, the last one graduated in 2013 and I was going to give it up, but nobody stepped up to take over. And then with football, I just enjoy working with the kids and basically what it is.

Q: What do you think it’s like to be coached by you?

Forgey: I’m not sure how to answer that one. The kids seem to keep coming back out for me. I mean, we didn’t have an abundance of kids last year. We had seven kids playing six man football and played four games with six kids. They seem to enjoy it.

Q: With the unusual circumstances surrounding this season, how quickly when the option came up were you guys aware that you were going to choose to play in Season A?

Forgey: I was wanting to play in Season A because we’d already decided that you don’t want to play spring football out here on the plains. When you get into the spring, you get those hard, just bitter cold winds. I’d rather be inside wrestling at that time.

Q: What is it about the 6-man game that you enjoy the most?

Forgey: It’s hard. Honestly, I’d rather play 8-man, but the 6-man games give the smaller schools a chance to keep their programs. Our first year with 6-man, we were undefeated until we met Eads and we forgot the center was eligible and their center just killed us.

It’s just about learning different things. The quarterback, the first person to touch the ball, can’t run across the line of scrimmage. It’s hard to break kids in right after you’ve just come down from 8-man, but it’s a wide open game. I’m still learning.

Q: Is it safe to say it was a big adjustment for you as well as the kids?

Forgey: Oh yeah. The one-on-one tackling is you have to be good at it and because if you’re not, you get a lot of points scored on you.

Q: How important was it for this year for you guys to go out and get that first win against Branson/Kim?

Forgey: That was a big one. When we went to Mountain Valley, we didn’t play bad, but we had 12 penalties for 95 yards and we had one or two touchdowns called back. At the end of the three, they were up on us 19-8, but we were still in the game and then the fourth quarter just kind of fell apart on us. Our offense hasn’t been clicking very good.

Against Branson/Kim, they were up 12-0 on us going into the fourth and our offense finally started clicking some and we scored two (touchdowns) with our extra points and the defense played excellent. I’m starting three freshmen, two seniors and one junior and my freshmen are starting to pick it up and they’re doing a good job. All of them have done a good job.

Q: How challenging is that when half of your team is made up of kids who hadn’t seen the varsity level before?

Forgey: You know what, the freshmen I have now, I have six total on the team, but I’ve had them since fifth grade playing junior high football. They progress, but it’s a big step from junior high to high school, even though you played that game.

They’re just trying to figure it out. They’ve finally grown some and they’re figuring out their footwork and stuff like that. They’re coming along well.

Q: In this shortened season, what’s your measurement of success for this team?

Forgey: We haven’t had very many winning seasons since after our first year of 6-man. We’re just taking it one game at a time. We have Cheraw this week and right now they’re undefeated. So that’s another big game and we have some tough games coming up here, so they’re going to have to step up.

I think it’s going to be tough for us to make the playoffs because that league up north with Stratton/Liberty, Eads, Cheyenne Wells and all those teams, that’s a pretty tough league. But I’d like to have a winning record by the end of the season.

(Photo courtesy of Joe Roskam)

There’s no mistaking the upward trend that’s happening in Teller County. For the last several years, Woodland Park hasn’t necessarily been a dominant football team but there has been significant growth and the team overall looks ready for a breakout season.

A big part of that reason is the consistency that head coach Joe Roskam has brought to the program. From the time he was born, Roskam has been a football guy. He grew up with an old school background, but since he’s joined the coaching ranks has grown more creative with his style of the game.

That creativity worked out in the Panthers first game of the year in which they took a road trip down to Alamosa and came away with 21-13 win over the Mean Moose.

The expectations for his boys are high this season and after getting a win in Week 1, Roskam has been named the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The Broncos coach of the week is selected in partnership with the Broncos. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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Joe Roskam bio

Years as head coach: 17

Years at Woodland Park: 9 (1-0 this season)

Previous stops: Harrah (Okla.) assistant (1997-99), Cripple Creek/Victor head coach (2000-03), Sierra head coach (2004-11); Woodland Park head coach (2012-present).

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Question: Why do you coach?

Roskam: The people that made a big difference in my life were my coaches when I was a kid. A lot of it has to do with my dad too. My dad was a small guy, but loved football. From the day I was born, I mean, I was 18 months old on the beach in North Carolina in a diaper playing with a football. I wouldn’t know where I would be without the game. I’m just doing my very best to instill those same desires and wants and, you know, and really turn these young people into upstanding young men.

That’s the goal, right? I know it’s cliche, but [he’d say] you want to see what kind of team do I have? He goes, I’ll let you know in 20 years when I find out we’re kind of men they are. That’s stealing it from the best, but that’s definitely a big part of it.

Q: Why do you coach the way that you coach?

Roskam: That that also comes from some of some of the situations that you grew up in. They have some coaches that were hard-nosed. They just wanted to get in there and run power all the time and you’re going to gut it out. We’ll run through a wall for you.

I was fortunate enough in my very first coaching job. I got to coach under a legend and his name was Glenn Poole in Oklahoma. He won several state championships and did it the right way. We were able to really have a lot of fun with the way that we did it. We ran our offense and the way we were in our defense and just being attacking in nature all the time. I was fortunate to be in Oklahoma the years that Bob Stoops finally took over, I was coaching in Oklahoma and Bob Stoops took over at the University of Oklahoma and Mike Leach happened to be the offensive coordinator. We got to talk with those guys a little bit and it just stuck.

That’s when we started developing our spread passing game and trying to play as fast as we possibly can. There were a lot of people that I looked up to in the coaching profession and was just fortunate enough to be under a guy that really encouraged me to learn. Challenged me as a person, challenged me as a coach and a young guy. I give it up to Coach Poole and then our next one was Coach Battle.

I learned so much from those guys on how it’s supposed to be and what our job really was. At first I thought we were just supposed to be football coaches, but the amount of time that they spent really getting to know young people and how to make a difference was huge. I can’t thank them enough, you for giving me that opportunity.

Q: From your players’ perspective, what do you think it’s like to be coached by you?

Roskam: The expectation levels are high. Sometimes I would say that it’s fun, but it’s also challenging and that’s kind of the goal. How do we make it a practice challenging, but also want them to come back every single day and give everything that they’ve got? You have to find that balance between fun and really getting after them a little bit. So I think it’s tough but at the same time, we’re able to laugh at each other. We hug each other a lot. We say we love you a lot. We use those kinds of words and hopefully that’s what they would say.

Q: What impressed you the most about your boys’ ability to really start practice as quickly as you were able to start it and put themselves in a position to start the season 1-0?

(Photo courtesy of Joe Roskam)

Roskam: That’s really on them. We were able to do some work over the summer, we were able to lift but we weren’t able to do a whole lot more than that. I think the consistency and the proof in what we’ve been doing really helps us. We’ve been doing the same thing. For years, I actually started with this senior group when they were in fourth grade. I actually have a picture of me with this group of kids when they were just a pee wee league. The year before, our group here wasn’t able to form a team and I just said that’s never going to happen again. I actually started a club and this was my very first team. And for my son now as a senior, he was part of that group.

I started coaching these guys when they were that little, so they know the expectation. They’ve been coming up with me since they were little bitty and that’s where they learned the expectations. As soon as we walked in, we just lined up and went “Hey, we need four-right, 63.” Bam. Done. “We need three-right, 72.” That’s just how it is. We didn’t have to take a long time to install. They were just ready to go. Now we had to get them back in shape because you know, they got a little chubby over COVID. That’s been the hardest part is just getting them back in shape.

Q: Everyone talks about football being a great tool for life lessons. What are the life lessons that are going to be unique to the group of football players this year that you won’t find anywhere else?

Roskam: The level of resiliency is going to be next to none. You’re going to have to be uncompromisingly consistent right now in everything that you do. We’re seeing around the state that some teams have chosen to hang out with other people outside of school and have had their seasons not necessarily cut short because they’ll become they’ll be back, but they’re going to miss games. That idea of excellence in everything that we do, excellence in everything is going to be huge. You’re going to have to make really great choices outside of here just to protect the program. That’s going to be part of it. We’re really asking a lot of these kids to put something above themselves.

Everybody is tired of computers and they’re tired of being isolated, but they have to be able to take care of the program. They’re going to have to be extremely disciplined and still sacrificing in order for you to complete all six games. Look at the Broncos right now, they’re missing a game this week. That’s going to be one of those life lessons that everybody learns. We’re going to come out of this and see that we have kids that are even more disciplined as a result.

Q: Is it possible that once this season is over, that you and maybe more importantly, your boys get to appreciate the game of football more than maybe you ever thought you would?

Roskam: I don’t even think it’s going to be after the season. I think we’re doing that right now. I mean, we’re grateful every day that we get to get out and play, because not everybody’s able to do it. And we actually got to play Friday night and there were several teams in the state that weren’t able to, whether they’re going in the spring or due to COVID, they had their games canceled.

We’re appreciative of everything that we get right now, and I’m so thankful that CHSAA and the governor actually allowed us to play. Some of these stipulations are really, really tough and some of our travel because of the way that our leagues have to be now are just crazy.

Trying to get everybody down to Alamosa was difficult in itself. And the fact that our kids were able to overcome those restrictions and guidelines, and it took us forever because we can only dress 10 at a time in a gym to get everybody out on the field and ready before the game and then show up and actually perform just shows their aptitude for excellence right now.

They had every excuse in the world to go down there and not perform, but they did. They showed up and they played. I’m just excited that we’re getting to play and just seeing these guys grow. It’s awesome.

(Photo courtesy of Joe Roskam)