Category: Coach of the Week

Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week: Holly’s Dayne Eaton

(Courtesy of Holly HS)

Holly football beat then-No. 2 Hoehne last Friday in what head coach Dayne Eaton called the biggest win the program has had for as long as he’s been around.

Here’s a little insight into the type of person that Eaton is:

The team bus got back from Hoehne at about 1 o’clock in the morning. One of Eaton’s players had a car that wouldn’t start. So, Eaton gave the player a ride home.

After getting home at about 2 a.m., Eaton had to turn around and get his son to a football game in Lamar at 8:30 a.m. Eaton and his son got there safe, sound and on time. And they won.

This week, Holly is ranked No. 3 in 8-man.

Eaton also coaches baseball at Holly, and won the 2016 1A state championship.

Eaton was selected as this week’s Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

The award is selected in partnership with the Broncos, CHSCA, and the InSideOut Coaching Initative, which seeks to transform the current win-at-all-costs sports culture. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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Dayne Eaton bio

Years as head coach: 6 (25-18)

Years at Holly: 6

Previous stops: Holly assistant (1997); Holly head coach (1998-99); Holly assistant (2003-05); Holly head coach (2014-present).

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Question: Why did you become a coach?

Eaton: Do you want the funny story or the straight up?

It goes this way: When you can no longer play, you referee. When you can no longer referee, then you coach. When you can no longer coach, then you’re the loud mouth on the end of the field. I can no longer play, so I referee basketball and now I’m coaching football.

More than anything, the story of me coaching football is kind of interesting. When I student taught, they found that I played football and basketball and baseball in high school, and they needed a junior high coach, so I coached junior high for — jeez, I guess it’s been 20 years.

As far as high school, I’m sitting with my son, we’re a 1-8 team, and we’re watching the high school play. He says, “Why don’t you help them?” Because our junior high was so successful. I said, “Well, that’ll be less time that I can spend with you,” but I agreed to come on as an assistant. At that point in time, the varsity coach had some health issues with his child, so he stepped down and I was all by myself. So then I ask a guy, a local farmer, to help me.

Then, we just instilled the same kind of things that we were doing in junior high. That you want to work to get better, you always have to show good sportsmanship. You know, just instilling the hard work and that they journey is more important than wins and losses. Learning to work hard and being rewarded for that.

Q: Is there a reason you coach the way you do?

Eaton: I guess, more than anything, I’ve been on both ends of it. I’ve coached those teams that didn’t have much talent, and our goal for the season was to improve. Right now, we’re kind of on an upswing as far as talent, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re doing things right as far as sportsmanship, as far as setting good examples for the young kids in our community.

I have the luxury of coaching the high school, junior high and the peewee football team. I get all of them, and I try to include other people to help out.

You asked me how I coach the way I do, and I really wish more people got to see this. My high school put on a youth camp, and the players and my assistant coaches would go through this camp.

Everyone had a buddy, they went through the same stretches and warm-ups that our varsity team does. We talked about fundamentals and three-point stance. The high school guys, I was amazed at how well they worked with 6-, 7-, 8-year old kids. It’s like they instantly found a best friend.

Q: What would you say it’s like to be coached by you?

Eaton: Number one, they know that I care about them most as a person. I’ve been in a number of weddings of former players. They call on me when they’ve lost a job or when they’re in a rough time. A number of my players have had their parents pass away. They come by and just talk.

I try to be there for them number one as a person. They know that I care about them as a person.

Number two, I’m a little bit of a jokester. We like to have fun. I tell the kids, if we’re not going to have fun, then we’re out here for the wrong purpose. That’s probably most important as far as my philosophy.

They know how much I care about them, and then two, they know that we’re going to have fun out here. We’re going to work hard, but if we’re not having fun, then we’re in the wrong place, and they need to be doing something else.

Q: Is there a favorite moment or memory you have as a coach?

Eaton: Coaching in general. You could say, “Hey, it’s when we won the state championship in baseball.” That isn’t necessarily it. It’s when we have the comebacks. The game Friday night against Hoehne, and for as long as I can remember, we hadn’t even come close to beating them.

And then, Friday night, it was a huge homecoming crowd there at Hoehne. We were down 14-7 at halftime, and kids just looked at each other and said they were just going to give all they’ve got. When the kids were saying that, I knew we had a chance.

Of course, the game turned out our way, but what makes you feel good as a coach is when the kids are being the leaders and not blaming others.

One of our big sayings is “Who’s got my back?” Everybody has your back. We really had that. We had guys going down with soreness and injuries, and our reserves basically won the game for us because they did their job.

Q: To start the season 3-0, and to beat the then-No. 2 team in the state in Hoehne, what does that mean for your season?

Eaton: You could say a lot of different things. One of the big things is the way that we won it as a team and the enthusiasm that we had. Just the belief in one another. Afterwords, we said that we didn’t want it to be the end of our season or the high point. We want bigger and better things.

I told them that this was the biggest win that I have ever had in my football coaching career, and I thanked them. I believe in them, and we’ll see how far this run will take us.

This was the biggest win of our program for as long as I’ve been around.

Q: Can you point to one thing that has stood out to you the most this season?

Eaton: I bought this sign in June, right after school. It says, “Football” Around it, it says, “Attitude, effort and commitment.” I said, “Boys, this needs to be our mantra.”

This summer, we went to the Denver Broncos 7-on-7 competition. I thought I was going to get maybe seven or eight guys. I had 13 jump in the van. It was a 15-passenger van. So, we went to Denver which was about a four-and-a-half hour drive in that van.

We did really well. We tied once, and we won four of them. It felt like we could really compete.

We got done early, so we got Rockpile tickets and went to the Rockies game. They ended up winning that game in the ninth, so we had a good time there.

Then, we went to a team contact camp. You never know how many guys are going to be able to get off during baling season in July, and we had some guys take some time off. It was three days up at Buena Vista. That was a great team-builder. We went white water rafting, we went on the ropes course, and then we did a lot of fundamental football. We slept on the gym floor.

Putting in that extra time, just making that commitment made me really think we had something special this year.

September 19, 2017
Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week: Hinkley’s Michael Farda

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Each week, Hinkley football coach Michael Farda preps his kids for a variety of situations that they can see on the football field.

Among them is the victory formation.

Until last Friday night, he hadn’t gotten the chance to make that call. The Thunderbirds beat Thornton 28-18 last week, giving the program its first win since Oct. 15, 2015.

To see his players finally see a reward from all their hard work over the summer and during fall camp is a sight he’ll never forget.

Farda is this week’s Denver Broncos coach of the week.

He becomes just the second coach from Hinkley to win the award, and the first since 1997.

The award is selected in partnership with the Broncos, CHSCA, and the InSideOut Coaching Initative, which seeks to transform the current win-at-all-costs sports culture. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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Michael Farda bio

Years as head coach: 3 (10-13 overall)

Years at Hinkley: 2 (1-11)

Previous stops: Maypearl (Tex.) assistant (2007-08); South Grand Prairie (Tex.) assistant (2009); Maypearl (Tex.) head coach (2010-11); Joshua (Tex.) defensive coordinator (2012); Venus assistant (2013-15); Hinkley head coach (2016-present).

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Question: Why did you become a coach?

Farda: How much do you got? I was fortunate enough to have my hero, who was my high school football coach. It just so happened that he was also my father.

Really, that’s where it set the stage, I guess, for my love of first of football and then the impact that I was able to feel from coaching.

I’m not trying to be a surrogate father or anything, but if that’s a role that maybe I assume for somebody, I’m okay with that.

I just know what kind of impact my daddy had on me and what kind of experience I had going through his program in high school as a player.

I want to be able to offer that to other kids.

Q: Is that why you coach the way that you coach?

Farda: It’s not an act. When I’m excited, it’s genuine enthusiasm for the kids. It’s a situation where you know what kind of work and time and effort and energy go into it.

It’s hard not to be happy when things kind of work out and you see kids get to display all the energy and tears and blood and hard work that they put into something.

A lot of times, I feel like, especially where we’re at, that a lot of our kids get looked past on occasion. They don’t have the wins necessarily that warrant people to look at their record and look at their games and how they performed.

I feel like they were due. It was a great game for them to show out in from of their fans, parents and friends.

Q: Putting yourself in their shoes, what do you think it’s like to be coached by you?

Farda: I don’t know. Most days I figure maybe they don’t like me too much.

I will say this. (If I’m them) I know that I won’t get lied to. I know that Coach Farda is going to be honest with me. I know that Coach Farda is going to coach me hard. I know that Coach Farda is going to expect excellence. It’s high expectations regardless of genetics or ability or anything like that.

I know Coach Farda is going to lift me up, even if things don’t go our way.

That’s about all I have to offer.

Q: Do you have a favorite memory or moment when it comes to your coaching career?

Farda: Recently, it’s definitely the Thornton game. The moments that I like and enjoy the most are things like getting an invitation to a wedding from a young man who was on my team at my previous head coaching spot.

A phone call from a kid who maybe can’t make film session because he as something going on at home and he trusts me enough to talk about it.

Those are the things that I enjoy most. That confidence, that security. I guess being important enough to a kid that they trust me enough or maybe that I’ve made enough of an impact on their life that they want me around.

That’s pretty rewarding.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Q: Going back to Friday night, how special was that moment when the clock ran out and you guys had the win?

Farda: The kids and I are all looking around at each other wondering what now?

What do we do now?

It was elation on the sideline.

Every week, when we’re going through Thursday walk-through and we’re going through various situations and scenarios with the kids, one of the things we have on the Thursday walk-though script is the victory formation.

You get to kneel and that time is going to run out and you’re going to win the football game.

Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve never had to call victory formation. The kids were fired up. We had just got the onside kick and we told them, “Guys, we get to run victory. Go. Get the win. Ready, break.”

That was fun.

Oh my gosh, I looked around at the smiles and tears start welling up in your eyes a little bit. They got to run victory. That was cool.

Q: What are you feeling in that moment when you see your quarterback take the knee and you guys have done something in your second game this year that you didn’t get to do last year?

Farda: Pure, unadulterated pride.

Not a pride in terms of success or failure, or wins or losses. But to be able to look at kids, because you’ve been preaching to them for so long to stay the course and keep the faith and grind, and see them jump around and high-fiving each other and just collapse and go to all fours with their helmets off because they’re completely exhausted, and it works out this time.

September 11, 2017
Broncos high school football coach of the week: Doherty’s Jeff Krumlauf

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Coaching, as Doherty’s Jeff Krumlauf puts it, runs in his veins.

He said he jumped at an opportunity to get involved as a junior varsity assistant 12 years ago. Now, early in his fourth season as the head football coach at Doherty, Krumlauf has helped to transform the culture around the program.

Yes, the Spartans are winning more than they ever have before. But his focus is also ensuring that his players “know that we care about them, and our whole purpose is for them to be successful, both on and off the field,” Krumlauf said.

Last week, Krumlauf’s Spartans opened the season with a wild 83-55 win over Rangeview.

“We figured if they were going to keep scoring, we should probably do the same,” Krumlauf said.

Krumlauf is this week’s Denver Broncos coach of the week. The award is selected in partnership with the Broncos, CHSCA, and the InSideOut Coaching Initative, which seeks to transform the current win-at-all-costs sports culture. Find a complete list of winners on this page.

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Jeff Krumlauf bio

Years as head coach: 4 (23-9 overall)

Years at Doherty: 4 (23-9)

Previous stops: Battle Mountain JV assistant (2005); Battle Mountain special teams coordinator/JV defensive coordinator (2006-07); Battle Mountain defensive coordinator/assistant head coach (2008-11); Doherty defensive coordinator/assistant head coach (2012); Doherty offensive coordinator/assistant head coach (2013); Doherty head coach (2014-present).

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Question: Why did you decide to become a coach?

Krumlauf: Honestly, it’s in my blood. My dad was a coach at the college level, and when I got the opportunity in Vail at Battle Mountain, I jumped at the opportunity. Through the process, I just love being around the kids, teaching them life lessons, and showing them, through this great game, that a lot of good can come it, and all the successes and/or failures that they go through — just like in life.

Q: Is there a reason you coach the way you do?

Krumlauf: When I became a coach, my dad’s two cents was, “Just remember all of the coaches you had over the years, and remember the good, and remember the bad, and become your own.”

Over the last 10 or 11 years, or however long I’ve been coaching, I think that’s really what I’ve been trying to focus on: Remembering how those really good coaches got the best of out athletes, and also remembering the stuff that, as an athlete, I didn’t care for too much. And also taking stuff from the coaches on my staff that have really, really made me a better coach and help this program get to where it’s at now.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Q: What would you say it’s like to be coached by you?

Krumlauf: I hope the kids would say fair, that we hold them accountable, and that we want the best out of them. Hopefully they know that we care about them, and our whole purpose is for them to be successful, both on and off the field. And that we really do demand the best effort and attitude that they can bring to the table, because that’s the one thing that they can control.

Q: Is there a favorite memory, or moment, you have as a coach?

Krumlauf: You know what? Moments just like yesterday, just being on the (practice) field with the guys. Even though they can give you a hard time, or you’re not having the best practice, but just being around the boys and being around the coaches and all of us working toward that common goal of improving everyday, those are the best memories.

People might be like, “Is there a win or a loss?” For whatever reason, you always remember the losses more than the wins, but it’s just the entire journey with the coaching staff and my players that I just absolutely love.

Q: Take me through last week, and what that was like. That must’ve been a five-and-a-half-hour game, or at least felt like it.

Krumlauf: (Laughs) Yeah, that is not how we envisioned that game going. But we figured if they were going to keep scoring, we should probably do the same.

You’ve got to give Rangeview credit, their quarterback and wide receiver, they were having a night. It almost like they were 99 on Madden, and every throw and every catch was just occurring. Even on film, our guys were in pretty good position to make a play. It was just, literally, inches away from them not completing those passes or scoring those touchdowns.

It was definitely interesting. We jumped out early, and things were rolling, but at the same time, I think we all got humbled pretty quick, in terms of, people aren’t going to quit just because you’re up. My high school came back from a 42-point deficit just last week and ended up winning the game. And I told the guys that.

It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, good programs like Rangeview — or anybody else that we’re going to play — they’re going to play you until that clock hits zero, even if it takes four or five hours.

It was definitely crazy, that’s for sure.

Q: What was your offseason like? I know the way it ended (just barely missing the playoffs) wasn’t at all how you wanted it to. I know you guys wanted that shot. So what was the offseason like?

Krumlauf: Honestly, it wasn’t much different in what we do in every offseason, except for there were just a few more reminders of, “Hey, we had a great year, but formula or no formula, you win your league and you’re in. If you do the right things and you put yourself in position to take care of business every week, and you go 1-0 every week, then you’re in.”

Our whole focus was just improving, on the little things, working hard in the weight room, making sure we were accountable all summer to each other, and just knowing that if we focus on the stuff that we can control, and we do things the right way, then nine times out of 10, the results take care of themselves.

(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

September 5, 2017
Strasburg’s Jeff Giger named Denver Broncos high school football coach of the year

(Steven Vetter/The I-70 Scout)

A decade ago, Strasburg football was coming off of three consecutive 1-8 seasons. Earlier this month, the team won its first championship in 25 years.

A mainstay in that turnaround is coach Jeff Giger, who recently completed his 11th season as coach of the Indians.

He has transformed that struggling program — Strasburg was 6-22 in his first three years, and 3-14 in the two seasons before he got there — to winning seasons in six of the past eight years. Since 2013, Strasburg is 37-8. That includes a perfect season in 2016: 13-0, and the Class 1A title.

He was voted as the 1A coach of the year by his peers as part of the All-State teams. And now, Giger has been selected as the 2016 Denver Broncos high school football coach of the year.

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Jeff Giger bio

Years as head coach: 11 (65-49 overall)

Years at Strasburg: 11

Previous stops: Offensive coordinator at Los Lunas, N.M. (2003-06); assistant at Oñate, N.M. (2000-02)

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Question: Why did you decide to become a coach?

Giger: I think growing up in high school, probably the two most influential people in my life at that time were my head football coach, and one of the assistant coaches. Just kind of everything. Not only pushing you to do better in school and football, but there were always conversations about life. That always stuck with me.

And then I spent seven years in the Army, and I always felt like there was something else I needed to be doing. Being able to hopefully be the same person that those guys were to some young man was something that was huge to me. I hope I’ve been able to do that a little bit.

To see young men progress from boys when they come into the program to young men, it’s just amazing when you get to step back and see that progression.

Q: Is there a reason you coach the way that you do?

Giger: I think a lot of it had to do with how I was coached. And I was very fortunate when I started in Las Cruces (at Oñate) and Kelly McKee was there, I got to learn from him. Then I moved pretty quickly with Bobby Campos to Los Lunas, and he had a different style, so I had things there that I learned. When I got here, some of my assistant coaches who were older, they helped me a lot.

So there’s been a definite transition. I think the guys would say I’m a pretty fiery yeller and screamer at times, but I’ve really kind of toned that down, and learned how to look for more of the positives instead of the negatives.

I think that’s a big thing in coaching: You’re always trying to find the negatives, and we don’t find enough positives. I think I’ve slowly progressed that way. They may argue with that, but …

(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)

Q: What was the feeling like in the preseason around the program this year, and did you see glimpses of how the season eventually played?

Giger: Going into team camp, we knew we had a lot of speed. We just had a few guys we had to fit into some positions. At team camp, we kind of got an idea there.

We liked some of the changes that we made there. I think the kids showed that it was going to work. That’s where we kind of had an idea that we were going to be pretty good.

Of course, you never really know, but that was where we had an idea.

Q: And then the season gets rolling, and you guys are not only winning games, but winning games by pretty big margins. Did that solidify your feeling?

Giger: Honestly, I think as that kind of kept going, I was getting more nervous. I was like, “Are we this good? Or what’s going on here.”

They made me feel more comfortable, because they were just very confident. They were confident about everything that they did. They were confident when they stepped on the practice field, they just went about what they were supposed to do, and never really got phased or rattled the few times they could have.

They made me a believer as the season went on.

Q: So you get into playoffs, get a No. 2 seed, and win that first-round game. But then you had a couple road trips. What was like that? Did that help bond the team, especially that second-round game at Cedaredge?

Giger: Even the guys said, that was a big change for us. Because I felt like the semifinal, and the final, we probably played two of our better games I’ve seen us play. It just looked like we were really focused, and really together.

They said the Cedaredge game was big, because it helped us with the travel part. But also, we’d been in the second round the past two years in 2A, and hadn’t gotten out of it. They kind of had a little more nerves for that game, because that was the next step that we hadn’t taken. And so they said once they got by that, the felt like, “Oh, OK, now it’s easy.”

(Kent Mincer/CHSAANow.com)

Q: You guys eventually beat Meeker to win the 1A title. What’s the response from the community been like?

Giger: It was unbelievable. I think probably the one thing they’ll remember the most is — after the game, it’s kind of surreal, so you don’t really wrap your head around it.

But then when we pull into town, you’ve got the fire trucks and ambulances, and half the town standing there right when we come over the bridge, and then they all go to the football field. That’s the kind of stuff you’re not going to get but in a small town. That’s been amazing.

December 19, 2016
Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week: Kent Denver’s Scott Yates

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Kent Denver football coach Scott Yates has to be doing something right. No one wins 313 high school football games by doing all the wrong things.

Even before this season started, Yates was writing his own chapter in Colorado high school football history. This year has only added to his already loaded list of bonafides.

He briefly tied the all-time wins record (until West Grand’s Chris Brown broke the record hours later) and led the Sun Devils to a 9-1 record and a No. 6 seed in the Class 2A football playoffs.

After a 27-6 win over Weld Central in the first round, he was an easy choice as the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

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Question: Why do you coach?

Yates: I believe it was what I was meant to do; what I was put on this earth to do.

I grew up in an athletic family. My dad was a coach and I think that watching how he impacted young people in such a positive and being such a big factor in who they became as adults was the magnet that drew me to it.

Q: Why do you coach the way you coach?

Yates: First, I’m more of a teacher when I’m coaching. I think a couple reasons. One, it’s very fulfilling to see the path you put kids on and help them get to that point (where they succeed), whether that’s as football players or importantly, as young adults.

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

Yates: I know that they know that I’m all in. I’m all there for them and that there isn’t anything I won’t do that they might need.

Q: How do you define success through your coaching?

Yates: It’s funny, I saw a quote the other day that really resonated with me. The answer to that question is really, ask me that in about five to 10 years.

Because it gets back to the outcome and what kind of young men are we producing over here. Producing is the wrong word, but our motto is here to take young guys and young gals and help them become great young adults.

So the answer to your question is when we see them come back with their own young families and start to see their kids applying to our school and I’m coaching a lot of kids at this point that I coached their parents. Seeing them come back and see what they’re doing with their lives is probably the greatest reward.

Q: A lot has been made this year about the number of wins in your career. Did you ever imagine when you started that you would have that kind of success?

Yates: Our first year, I was just hoping to find a way to win one. We were fortunate enough that we won two.

I never imagined when I started that we would win a league championship. And then that happened.

The next thing you know, we’re wondering if it’s possible that we could win a state championship at this place. That happened and then we just had a good solid program for a long time.

Building a program is one thing. Sustaining it is a whole other thing.

Q: You head into the second round of the playoffs this week. Has the message ever changed for you when you’ve gotten your teams to this point of the season?

Yates: You know, every year is so different. In 35 years, I’ve haven’t had one year that was the same.

I think for me as a coach, just from inside I have to look at it and know that it’s not last year, that we need to do something different this year and how do we approach everything?

Our team this year is a very young team and so our challenge has been very different than it was last year.

But I think the big thing for us is that we’re going to prepare hard. We’re going to try and do everything right with as few distractions as possible. And that is something that carries over from one year to the next.

Preparation and trying to reduce the distractions so that when you show up, you’re ready to play and if you win so be it, and if you lose, so be it as long as you’ve given it everything that you can.

That’s what I try to do as a coach and I hope that the kids want to do the same.

Q: Coaches always emphasize how much they enjoy teaching young people, but is there ever anything that your players teach you?

Yates: Absolutely. They remind me all the time that they’re kids. They remind me that I need to be willing, even though I’m older at this point, to change with their times and be able to adapt to who they are and the world they’re living in. Whether that’s technology or just relationships and their families and those things.

I think one of the biggest things for me is whether or not I’ve been able to stay up with them and what’s going on in their worlds.

November 7, 2016
Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week: Chatfield’s Bret McGatlin

(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Bret McGatlin has Chatfield on a roll.

At 8-1 overall, the Chargers have a very difficult team to play on both sides of the ball. They average over 45 points a game on offense while surrendering less than 14 points a game defensively. They have wins over Pine Creek, Wheat Ridge and Dakota Ridge.

Their only loss of the season?

A 28-7 defeat at the hands of the Class 5A CHSAANow.com No. 6-ranked Columbine Rebels.

That’s not a bad résumé with the postseason inching closer.

And that’s a big reason that McGatlin was an easy choice as the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week.

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(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Question: Why do you coach?

McGatlin: There are several reasons, I think. It’s just something for me, I was raised by a dad who was a coach. So I saw the effect he had on me and the kids that he coached and I think that’s the main reason.

The amount of things you can teach young men. We want these kids here to become great fathers and great husbands someday. So that’s really the ultimate reason why I coach.

Q: Why do you coach the way you do?

McGatlin: I’ve been coached by some great coaches. I think that’s why I coach the way that I do, I believe that building relationships with kids is the No. 1 priority as a coach. I learned that from my dad and a lot from Coach (Andy) Lowry when I coached at Columbine.

Q: When you step out of that locker room, what you think those player think about how it feels to be coached by you?

McGatlin: I would hope that they think that they always know that I care for and love them like they’re my own son. No matter how good of a player they are, that’s my hope is that every player that comes through our program knows that.

Q: How do you define success through your coaching?

McGatlin: It sounds kind of weird, but I define success by the players that come back and visit me. Those are the kids who will tell me how they’re doing and it’s always great to hear those stories and hear about the success they’re having post-high school.

Not very many of these kids go on to play college football, but to hear about them being successful as adults is where I gauge success in our program.

Q: This season has been very successful for you guys. As it’s gone on and you continue to win games, what’s the attitude of the team been like and what are you getting out of it?

McGatlin: A lot of joy. Winning is something that you love. Everybody loves winning. I’ve definitely been on the other side of it before.

I think right now when you win and compete and see the smiles on the kids’ faces, I think that’s what I’ve enjoyed the most. Just seeing the kids enjoy playing the sport of football. That’s ultimately what I’ve seen from this year and I know that the kids have grown closer together and their relationship together has been a lot of fun to watch.

Q: You mentioned your time at Columbine, what was it like for you guys to go there this year and hang with one of the top 5A teams in the state?

McGatlin: We always have ultimate respect for them. Coach Lowry runs a great program and for us to be able to see that, being in 4A and seeing one of the top 5A schools, and compete with them I know that we always want to win that football game because it’s a big rivalry game.

I think from that game is where our kids really started to grow up quite a bit. Before that, we were kind of untouchable and undefeated and had beaten some big teams in Pine Creek and Wheat Ridge. From that we learned a lot in that we have to take care of ourselves.

We also learned about how physical they are and how physical you need to be if you’re going to play at the highest level.

Q: With the playoffs on the horizon, what are your hopes and expectations for how the boys finish out this season?

McGatlin: Just that they give it everything they’ve got. For some of these guys, it’s their last games and winning a championship is not easy to do. At any sport on any level. So we just hope that every day they show up and give us the best effort they possibly can.

That’s all I can ask is that they have a great attitude, so that’s what we’re looking for. I learned from Nick Saban a few years ago, just watching him talk about his process. That’s what we try to do here, follow our process and take care of it one day at a time.

Hopefully those things come together for something great at the end of the season.

October 31, 2016
Broncos high school football coach of the week: Platte Canyon’s Mike Schmidt

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Week 8’s Denver Broncos high school coach of the week is Platte Canyon football’s Mike Schmidt, but he sees the individual honor as more of a staff award.

“I have great assistants, and we’ve been together for a long time,” Schmidt said. “Our success has to do more with their coaching than mine. I wish the award was called ‘Broncos coaching staff of the week,’ because they definitely deserve that recognition.”

The coaching staff consists of defensive coordinator Lance Gunkel, and varsity assistants Mark Hancock, Joe Linnehan and Jim Owsiany.

“Nate Carrigan, a deputy killed last February, is also part of our staff too, and is obviously here with us in spirit,” Schmidt said.

Class 1A’s No. 5-ranked Huskies improved to an undefeated mark after picking up a huge win against Clear Creek on Friday. Platte Canyon has allowed no more than 14 points in a game all season and have doubled opponents in scoring in every game except for the last 18-12 victory, clinched in the waning seconds of regulation.

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Mike Schmidt file

Years coaching: 22 (current record: 8-0)

Years at Platte Canyon: 17 (1999-present)

Previous stops: Newbury High School (Ohio) head coach 1995-1999; Coachella Valley High (Calif.) head coach/assistant 1992-1994; Occidental College (Calif.) 1987-1991

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Question: Why do you coach?

Schmidt: I coach because I enjoy working with young students, it has been mainly boys in football, but I’ve coached other sports as well. It’s an opportunity for adults to help shape these kids for great things in their futures. Sports is one of the few tangible ways to do that, and I get great enjoyment from it.

Q: Why do you coach the way you do?

Schmidt: We want our kids to have fun and we’re probably a little loser than most squads, but we try to make sure they understand the game. We want to do our best and prepare our best, but in the end it’s just a game, and we hope the players have great, enjoyable experiences from this program.

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

Schmidt: My son, a senior on the football team, would probably give a better answer. We really care about the kids and try to do our best for them in terms of getting prepared. They know we take it seriously, but not that seriously. We know it’s more about fun and creating good memories for these kids.

Q: How do you define success in coaching?

Schmidt: If my players are successful beyond high school, and they become happy, productive citizens beyond this. If we have a small part in that, it’s success.

Q: What’s your most meaningful experience with a team or player?

Schmidt: We create moments everyday in practice that are memorable and fun, and for me to narrow it down to just one moment would be very difficult. There have been lot of big wins, some on the state level and some not, and I’ve enjoyed them all. But it’s not just about wins, I’ve enjoyed all my time coaching.

Q: Please describe the last few minutes, rather seconds, of that wild Clear Creek ending.

Schmidt: We practice two-minute drills twice a week, and we’ve been running a very similar system for that for 15 years. Someone who played here even 10 years ago could watch and know exactly what’s happening. We got big runs from Trevor Sander and Mathias Johnston to put us in scoring position when we were out of timeouts and the clock stopped with 4.7 seconds left in regulation.

Worst case scenario, we were going to overtime, but we didn’t want that; we wanted to win. We threw an incomplete to stop clock, and at ten yard line with one play left.

Clear Creek was defending the end zone and the outside lines, like they should have been, and so we rolled the dice and ran a quarterback trap and my son, Otis Schmidt, got in the end zone, barely — thank goodness his mom is tall!

Our guys blocked it beautifully and Otis (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) finished off the play.

Q: Describe what the family element was like in this moment — your wife said it was emotional for everyone.

Schmidt: My family has been terrific in supporting Otis and me. Georgia, my daughter, is an 8th grader helping us out as a water girl. My wife and I were high school sweethearts and went to college together, and she’s seen me play and coach since I was 17.

It’s amazing to have your son in that position, and he’s worked very hard to get to where he is, and it was a very great moment for our family

Q: What are your thoughts going into, arguably, your toughest game yet on Friday against No. 3-ranked Bennett for the Foothills League title?

Schmidt: I know their head coach really well, and we’ve known each other for a long time. It’s a good rivalry, and Bennett (7-1) is a very good team. We’re both playoff teams, so it doesn’t have quite the tension as a playoff game would, but we hope to play well and they are definitely a formidable opponent.

The Broncos Coach of the Week is sponsored by the National Football League Foundation via the InsideOut Initiative.

October 24, 2016
Broncos high school football coach of the week: Eaglecrest’s Mike Schmitt

(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)

Mike Schmitt spent the early part of his coaching career traveling all across Louisiana, coaching at five different schools in a decade.

But he’s now in his seventh year at Eaglecrest, and you can be sure the Raptors are glad that he continues to head their program. He tenure has overseen Eaglecrest’s steady ascension, including playoff trips in 2014, 2013 and 2012 — when they were a surprise quarterfinalist in Class 5A.

This season, Schmitt’s Raptors are the lone remaining unbeaten team in 5A at 7-0, and are ranked No. 3 in this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll.

He’s a compassionate coach who lives by a code of sportsmanship. Two weeks ago, his team’s demeanor was so noteworthy that an opposing parent sent Eaglecrest a letter praising their “class right from the beginning.”

“It made (our kids) want to be like you,” the parent wrote.

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Mike Schmitt bio

Years as head coach: 10 (39-51 overall)

Years at Eaglecrest: 7 (32-38)

Previous stops: Overland offensive coordinator (2008-09); Live Oak (La.) head coach (2006-07); Buras (La.) head coach (2005); South Lafourche (La.) assistant (2004); Overland assistant (2003); assistant at Many HS (La.) and Redemptorist (La.) (1996-02).

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Question: Why did you decide to become a coach?

Schmitt: I got injured when I was a real young kid. I was a sophomore in high school, and had to get my ACL repaired, and that was 25 years ago, back when those things were pretty new. … I had to sit for a couple years. Back then, it was so different with knees. I didn’t get to play until my senior year. It made me realize how much I loved it. I was still around the team, and I got to spend more time with the coaches. I saw how they interacted with the players and I really appreciated that.

I went to college and I played for a few years, and it was the same deal. I had some college coaches there that kind of motivated me to want to be a coach just because of how they interacted, good and bad.

All of my family are all into business and sales, and I’m the first teacher in the family. Somewhere along the way, I kind of fell in love with it. I just had a lot of people influence me, and I kind of wanted to return that favor. I felt like some of the trials and tribulations I had been through in my playing career, I could help kids. Because I went through some difficult times. It’s proven true for me through the last 20 years of coaching.

Q: Is there a reason you coach the way that you do?

Schmitt: When I first came out of college, I was still gung-ho. Screaming and yelling and cursing and everything else. It was almost like I was playing for myself and coaching for myself. Somewhere along the lines, I got out of coaching for about a year, and I realized that I missed the relationships with kids.

I believe that a lot of my beliefs as a Catholic, as a Christian, have molded me. I’ll tell you what, the biggest change was becoming a dad. I have four kids now. I have a sixth-grader, a fifth-grader, a first-grader and a kid not yet in kindergarten. And my wife. And all of those together kind of just changed who I was. Getting out of coaching for a year, coming back to it, and then having a family has really changed my philosophy.

I speak to my players the same way I speak to my sons. Sometimes that’s a little harsh for some people, but I always go back and talk to them about the good things that they’ve done. Sometimes it resonates and sometimes it doesn’t.

Q: With that, what would you say it’s like to be coached by you?

Schmitt: I would’ve liked to have been coached by me. I just feel like a coach like me really appreciates a hard-working kid that’s in the weight room, is a good teammate, takes care of his responsibilities on a daily basis.

I wasn’t always the most talented kid, so when a coach would pull me out of the crowd for being a hard worker, it really stuck and really made me feel proud. I would have liked to be coached by a guy like me, because I feel like that’s what we look for in our players.

If you’ve watched us play the last few years, you see that our kids play hard. I think that’s the most important thing about being a high school football coach.

Q: What’s the most memorable moment or experience you’ve had with a player or a team?

Schmitt: There’s so many of them. It seems like there’s things that go on forever and ever.

I think a few years ago, when we went to the quarterfinals with Xavier Lewis and that group. The team I have right now is the same caliber as far as the mental side, but this team is so much more talented than that team was. I mean, we’ve got some talented kids on this team. Guys that can flat-out play and that are big and strong. But that team didn’t. And we beat Cherry Creek to get into the playoffs, and we made a run to the quarterfinals. That was pretty special.

The other one, at Overland High School in ’03, when we played for the state championship, when I was an assistant with Tony Manfredi. That was a pretty special year for me, too. That was the last run Tony made to the state championship, and Tony is a dear friend of mine who I have really taken so much from coaching for him and the way he coached kids. He’s a god father to one of my son’s. I tell you what, it’s a pretty special deal.

So those two instances right there were just so special. Doing things that you aren’t supposed to, and beating people that you aren’t supposed to, or watching kids that aren’t as talented overcome. It’s just cool.

Q: You guys are now — well, have been — the only undefeated team left in 5A. What’s that that expectation level like?

Schmitt: Every game, I just worry about the next week. We’re still young. I mean, the truth be told, out of the 22 starters, I think we only have five or six starting seniors. So most of us are still juniors and a couple of sophomores and even a freshman.

I know it sounds cliche, but we have really just tried to get better every week. … To say that we expected to be undefeated, that’s a stretch. It’s hard to do that. We’ve just really tried to play better and eliminate mistakes that have killed us in years past. And I think every week, we’ve gotten a little bit better at that.

Q: What are you expecting as you try to win this (Mt. Wilson) conference championship?

Schmitt: We’ve got Castle View this week, and they played Ralston Valley tough. They’re a big, strong football team that can hold the ball all day on you. They can grind out some yards. We’re just going to try and make sure we don’t have any turnovers and find ourselves scrambling.

Ralston Valley, two years ago we had a scrimmage with them, and we had a great scrimmage. We were banging heads, it was awesome. Afterwards, I told me team, “We’re going to see this team again at some point.” Sure enough, we saw them in the second round (of the playoffs), and they beat us on a long field goal. And the next year, we played them Week 1. … It was another good game, and we wound up losing by six. It’s just kind of been a little rivalry all of a sudden. So that’s going to be a fun game.

And then A-West is so much improved. The last three teams just have their own little challenges, just like the first seven teams did. How it shakes out, it’s just a matter of us doing our job and taking it week-to-week.

Jalen Mergerson. (Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)

Q: It looks like your quarterback (Jalen Mergerson) is having a good year …

Schmitt: He was a backup quarterback as a freshman behind Elijah Ross. He had a pretty good understudy going on there. Elijah was just a phenomenal player and a good leader.

So Jalen took over as a sophomore, and he threw for more than 1,400 yards last year, and I think rushed for 700. His dad’s a coach, his dad’s ex-military, and his mom’s a teacher. If you’ve ever been around a teacher’s kid, military kids, they’re just good young men. So he’s the same way. He works hard in the classroom and really pushes himself there.

He’s just a good leader, he’s a quiet kid. He’s one of the hardest working guys in the weight room. He runs track — he was on our 4×100 and 4×200 teams that ran at state this past year.

He’s an overall good athlete, great kid. Comes from a good family. I credit a lot of the development we’re having on him this year because of his leadership style.

Q: And the fact is, like you’ve said, you have so many juniors and sophomores contributing here. Not to get way too far ahead of ourselves, but this sets you guys up for a couple of years.

Schmitt: You know what? When you play young kids, if you’re not any good when you’re playing young, it’s not like they’re going to be good when they get older. So it’s not just about playing young kids or playing kids that lack experience. It’s about their character to being able to deal with it.

The hardest thing that I was always concerned about was — I knew these guys were talented. For me, it was, “Do they have the mental or maturity level to deal with some success?” And they have. That, to me, is the biggest thing. Down the road, whatever happens happens. I feel like these guys are mature enough right now to do the things they’re doing and to continue to do them.

So we’re going to focus on the now, and when we get to the offseason, we’ll use whatever happens in the now for what we do next year.

This group, we’ve won the Broncos 7-on-7 two years back-to-back. And these guys that are now juniors have been the ones that have helped do that.

But you can’t diminish the few seniors we have, their quality. Right now, that’s who I’m worried about. What’s most important to me are the guys that have been with us for four years. We have quite a few of them that have busted their butts, and they’re willing to lead these young guys and allow the young guys to be good players. They’re just unselfish seniors.

That, to me, is the most important. You can have talented young guys, but if you don’t have those seniors that are willing to lead those young guys and also let them shine a little bit, you don’t have a good team.

October 17, 2016
Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week: La Junta’s Clint Buderus

La Junta’s Clint Buderus. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Regardless of the challenges that have been put in front of La Junta football coach Clint Buderus, he and his players have risen to them.

The Tigers just completed a three-game stretch in which they beat Kent Denver, The Classical Academy and Manitou Springs.

At the time, the Sun Devils were the No. 1 team in Class 2A. TCA was ranked No. 2 and Manitou Springs was No. 4. Two dominating performances sandwiching a last-second Hail Mary win have put La Junta in the driver’s seat in 2A, both in terms of state rankings and RPI.

For now though, Buderus says the only goal that his team has is to win the Tri-Peaks. After taking down Manitou and TCA, the Tigers are certainly the favorites.

After completing one of the more difficult trio of games that anyone would see this year, the Tigers look more than up to that task. And while they may not openly talk about it, they are still focused on making a run on the state championship that eluded them last season.

With La Junta looking like the clear-cut favorite in 2A, Buderus has been named the Denver Broncos High School Football Coach of the Week.

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Question: Why do you coach?

Buderus: I’ve been around (football) my whole life. My son being in the locker room is a reminder of me being in that locker room when I was his age. It’s kind of what I always wanted to do.

We grew up with it and watch my dad (Mark) do it and just being around the kids, helping the kids, watching them grow. We have a kid who had trouble passing classes and now he’s playing for us. With kids like that, if you can make a difference and help them see how to be a good person and citizen, it makes a big difference.

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

Buderus: Probably because of my dad. A lot of stuff goes back to him and how we grew up and watched him coach and how he had so much success.

So probably from him and some the other coaches I had in college. Sometimes, it’s what not to do, but they’ve all shaped the way we coach and the way I coach.

We have a great staff with my dad and my brother. They’ve been around all our coaches fro four or five years right now and they kind of know what to expect.

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

Buderus: I think they think I’m hard on them. That I expect a lot from them. Especially our seniors. They know what I expect from them and it’s not just out on the field. It’s in the classroom and being good citizens and being respectful.

I don’t let them wear their hats backwards. Just try to be good people and hopefully things they can carry for the rest of their lives.

They’re going to say I’m hard on them, no doubt about that. I expect a lot from them.

Q: How do you define success through your coaching?

Buderus: Oh, I don’t know. Like that kid (who wasn’t passing classes), if I can make them better when they leave than they were when they came to me, that’s a big part of it.

Obviously winning and losing, but really helping kids and helping them be better people is a big part of it too.

Q: You just got through a murderer’s row of a schedule, what does this do for a team’s confidence moving forward?

Buderus: Lamar will play its best game of the season against us. Ee have a big target on our back. Everybody is going to give us their game and we have to prepare like that. I think we had a little bit of a letdown last week, I don’t think we played our best game (against Manitou).

Q: You’ve already beaten the other top teams in the Tri-Peaks League, so what is your focus of this final strech of the season?

Buderus: Our number one goal is to win the league. We still have three (league games) to go. So that means we have to win all nine. The kids know that and we preach it all the time and they talk about it all the time. We want to host in the playoffs. That’s the goal, win league and host in the playoffs.

October 10, 2016
Broncos high school football coach of the week: Legacy’s Wayne Voorhees

Legacy’s Wayne Voorhees. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Legacy football coach Wayne Voorhees is in perhaps the most unique coaching situation of his career this season.

The veteran coach, now in his 14th season, is helping to guide the Lightning in the wake of a bus crash his team was involved in while returning home from an out-of-state game. The crash killed the driver, and left Voorhees and two of his assistants in the hospital. Voorhees himself fractured his skull, and suffered other facial injuries.

Legacy played its homecoming game that next week under interim coach Matt Craddock, and won. It was a healing moment for the community.

Now, the Lightning are 4-1 following a 27-15 win over Overland in Week 5, and Voorhees, who returned to the sideline in that game, is ready to turn his attention to football.

[divider]

Wayne Voorhees bio

Years as head coach: 14 (77-54 overall; 4-1 in 2016)

Years at Legacy: 17

Previous stops: Legacy defensive coordinator (2000-02); Horizon assistant (1993-1999).

[divider]

Question: Why do you coach?

Voorhees: I think the biggest thing is seeing kids develop over their four years of high school. It’s great to be a part of that. As kids mature and get bigger, stronger, and mentally stronger, it’s neat to see how they deal with things over the course over their four-year career.

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

Voorhees: I kind of think I’m somewhat of a player’s coach, but still has discipline, if that makes sense. I definitely want to hear what kids have to say and get their buy-in as far as what we’re doing, and why. Really, that’s the biggest thing: the why part. I don’t think enough of us over the years do a good enough job communicating the why.

That’s one thing I definitely try to do, which doesn’t always happen, but I think it helps kids buy in a little bit more to, “Why are we doing what we’re doing?” It’s not just because I said so, it’s, “This is the reason that we’re doing it.”

Q: How would you define success in coaching?

Voorhees: Obviously wins and losses are important, but as you look at your team: are you developing week by week as you get further into the season?

We’ve had some years that we didn’t have a great record, and that might have been some of our best coaching years, where we’ve developed kids and we kept getting better but we didn’t necessarily show it as far as wins and losses.

Q: What would you say it’s like to be coached by you?

Voorhees: I hope that our kids would say that I definitely listen to them and keep their opinions at heart, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to move in a good direction.

I hope that they would say that we’re positive and they understand why we’re doing what we’re doing. You know, staying positive and trying to bring out the best in all of our kids.

Q: What is your most meaningful experience that you’ve had with your team, or maybe an individual player?

Voorhees: This is probably back maybe seven or eight years ago. As coaches, we are constantly wanting to be — we want everything to be a certain way. We want to keep getting better.

We had a win over Greeley West — this is years ago — and they were really good team and we were really good team, and we won 6-0. I got upset after the game because I didn’t think we were playing as well as we were capable of playing, and we were in the locker room after the game, and I was trying to get to get everybody cleared out and get on the bus and get going and get home.

One of our guys says, “You know coach, you do remember we won, right?” And that really stuck with me because all of the things that we try to get geared into kids’ heads, that we want to be perfect and we want to have a great game, but when it came down to it, we did have team success.

I actually told that story to a kid — we didn’t play very well against Overland and it was a kid who didn’t play well himself — and I told him the same story. I said, “You know what? We won. We’re going to get better next week.”

Q: With what you guys have gone through, it’s become pretty apparent the amount of resilience this group has. That’s been pretty incredible, at least from an outsider’s perspective. What’s that been like from within the program?

Voorhees: We’ve had great weeks of preparation, and we’ve done a good job of talking about — with coach Craddock a couple of weeks ago — just talking about what’s going on, letting them vent if they needed to. We really haven’t had a whole lot of dialogue necessarily. The kids haven’t brought a lot of things up.

We knew we were going to have some emotional highs and lows, and we played pretty well the past couple of weeks. Last week, we didn’t play particularly well, and I don’t know if it was a let-down from all the stuff that’s been going on over the past couple of weeks, or looking at some of the scores.

We beat Horizon pretty convincingly a couple of weeks ago, and they beat Overland. I don’t know if that was part of it, just thinking that we were going to be able to show up and have success. And that didn’t happen, because they’re coached well and they play hard, and it was their homecoming.

(Morgan Dzak/CHSAANow.com)

Q: The outpouring of support that you guys have received from communities across the state, communities in California has been great.

Voorhees: It’s really been amazing. Obviously, the state of Colorado and the Broomfield area has been amazing. Just even outreach from guys you’ve met over the years, athletic directors and district athletic directors.

The football community is really pretty tight, even though they’re your opponents, and you don’t talk actively all the time. The amount of guys that I’ve had reach out to me has been unbelievable.

Q: And how is your recovery coming personally?

Voorhees: I’m doing pretty good. I was kind of telling our coaches this morning in game-planning, and this kind of sounds callous, but I’m kind of over it. I’d like to move on.

I’m not 100 percent by any means, and I appreciate everything, but I mean I walk down the hall at school and I’ve got to hug 43 people as I go to the conference room (laughs).

You know what? I’m trying to coach the football team, I’m trying to get us going. I appreciate all that other stuff, I really do, and it’s good to see everybody, but it’s time to start moving on and moving through the season.

Q: Now you guys are 4-1, playing really well heading into conference play. How are you feeling about the start of that schedule?

Voorhees: We’ve got Regis this week and they’re a good football team, and we’re excited about the opportunity.

We’ve seen some of their game film, and they do a lot of things real well. We know, as a first league game, this is a big one for us. They’re the 1 seed, if you will, in the waterfall, we’re the 2 seed, and we know our league championship goes through them.

(Morgan Dzak/CHSAANow.com)

Q: What do you like most about your football team going forward?

Voorhees: I actually told them this at the beginning of last week. The thing I really like about this group — we had a great trip to California, this whole accident has probably brought us a little closer together, but they play hard on every play.

We got down to Chino Hills, we were down 13-0. And before I knew it, we were up 14-13. There have been some teams over the years that the clock could’ve been running at halftime because we would’ve been mentally down and all those other things.

Our kids live to play the next play, and they play hard. That’s the one thing I really like about our guys. It doesn’t necessarily matter what just happened, the score, if we turn the ball over — whatever it may be. We live to play another play.

October 3, 2016