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Category: Coach of the Week

  • Broncos high school football coach of the week: Mead’s Jason Klatt

    Mead football coach Jason Klatt
    (Photo provided by Jason Klatt)

    Mead football coach Jason Klatt isn’t really concerned with winning games. He’s more focused on creating relationships with students, and holding his players to high expectations of how to treat females, teachers and adults.

    Klatt will never give up moral ground just to win a football game, and turning out great, young men is way more important than any victory could ever be — even the biggest win in program history.

    Athletic director Chad Eisentrager said Mead is a much better place because Coach Klatt is around, and taking down the third-ranked team in the state on Friday night is just gravy.

    “I’ve been around 15 years and I’ve never seen anyone lead young men like him,” Eisentrager said. “He’s learned how to do it from one of the best coaches in Colorado history, and doing things the right way comes from his dad. He’s created this system where kids don’t want to disappoint, and if the football team buys in, then everyone else buys in too.”

    Hailing from a football family, Klatt, brother of FOX Sports college football analyst/former University of Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt and son of longtime successful Pomona coach Gary Klatt, puts a large family emphasis in his coaching philosophy.

    Week 4’s Denver Broncos high school coach of the week is Jason Klatt: a coach who puts life lessons and love before wins, and so just happened to develop a dang-good football program because of it.

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    Jason Klatt bio

    Years coaching: Five (Record 25-19; current: 3-1)

    Years at Mead: Five

    Previous stops: Mountain View defensive coordinator (2001-11); Pomona assistant (1999-2000)

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    Silver Creek-Mead football
    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    Question: Why do you coach?

    Klatt: This is my 17th year coaching football at the high school level, and during that time, I’ve really honed in and focused on that question. I coach to help young men grow up and teach them lessons that will help with their lives.

    Bottom line: I want the kids to be successful 10 years from now, and I want them to become great husbands, fathers, businessmen and leaders in their communities. It’s the only reason I coach and continue to do so.

    Sports serve as a great avenue to teach those life lessons to kids. When your philosophy is based upon winning or championships, you’re just facing dead end roads.

    Q: Why do you coach the way you do?

    Klatt: I think we have a problem in our society that not enough young men are being brought up properly, and I want to help create solutions. I’m raising a 9-year-old daughter, and I know it’s so critical and important that we — as teachers, educators and coaches — are helping our young boys grow up to be great young men who accept responsibility for their actions, make good decisions and choices and know how to be a leader among their peers. When young men learn those things, their communities will be much better.

    Q: How do you define success in coaching?

    Klatt: There’s only one way, and that’s when a kid comes back five, 10 years from now and says, “Coach, I am this now — insurance salesman, lawyer, doctor — I have a wife, two kids, I’m a family man, I’m a leader in my community.” That’s success.

    You can’t experience that until you’ve been coaching for a long time, and then years later, former players call you or come back and thank you for what you’ve done for them.

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

    Klatt: Now this is a difficult question, because I haven’t always been the way I’m about to describe: Our team got off the field the other night after a great game, and I gave my dad a hug and I’ll never forget it. And he said he was proud of me.

    I feel some young men haven’t experienced love the way I have. The first thing I’d say is I care about them immensely, and I tell them I love them and try as best as I can to not just tell them that, but to also show them with actions.

    When kids know you care about them and their best interests are at heart, they’re going to run through brick walls for you.

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

    Klatt: I have a lot of meaningful experiences. Like starting the program at Mead. I came in 2012 — two years after it started. One of my coaches was my dad, and being able to bring him aboard after all his own coaching success (30 years at Pomona), build this program with him and bring the Mead football family together is something I’ll never forget, not one time.

    It’s something that’s culminated in the last five years, and we made playoffs for the first time last year and were able to compete with a team that was ranked third in the state and win on Friday night.

    Q: How has your dad helped you develop Mead’s football program?

    Klatt: He was our defensive coordinator for three years, and last year I hired another guy and dad took a step back — he lives in Highlands Ranch and commutes. I like to call him a “quality control coach,” meaning he could do anything in any capacity. He’s worked with the defensive line, linebackers and been the defensive coordinator. He’s a fill-in guy who step in whenever someone is gone.

    I talked to him this morning and he was telling me, “We have to do this, and this,” and even after a big win, like against Longmont, he’s right back at it to work the next day. We live in the moment for a brief period of time, but know how quickly we have to move on, because there’s another team ahead of us (3A’s No. 1-ranked Fort Morgan).

    Silver Creek-Mead football
    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    Q: What have you learned from him about coaching?

    Klatt: My dad taught me everything, and my fondest memories are being around him and the Pomona football program. But getting older and actually being involved — running things, teaching kids — he is just the gold standard and the example I look to as a coach.

    He was so good with relationships with kids and building football culture in the family. He was so gifted as a coach, and I lean on him every time I need something.

    Q: You’ve built Mead’s team to compete with powerhouse programs, and you took down No. 3 Longmont on Friday. Describe how that win feels.

    Klatt:     We preach and teach not to get too high on the highs and low on the lows, and it was just another game on the schedule. The kids played great, but we don’t want to get any more amped than that. As a coach, to step back and look at it and think about how far the program and mindset of our kids have come, and to actually walk out on the field with a team that is a big perennial power and compete with them, it’s feels more satisfactory the kids stood up and competed; they didn’t back down and let someone shove them around.

    This has been a collective effort, and many people at Mead have made this program a success. It’s not just me — it’s a great community.

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

  • Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week: Broomfield’s Blair Hubbard

    (Courtesy of @Eagle_athletics on Twitter)
    (Courtesy of @Eagle_athletics on Twitter)

    How does a man who is normally reserved in the eyes of his players celebrate a big win?

    He lets out a giant scream after the game.

    Minutes after Broomfield shocked Windsor with a 37-25 win over the defending Class 4A state champions, coach Blair Hubbard shocked his players with a celebratory scream in the endzone.

    He was thrilled to see the things he preaches on the field turn into a much-deserved victory. It’s moments like those that allow him to take pride in the way that he coaches high school kids.

    And with the result going in his favor against Windsor, he has been named the Denver Broncos high school football coach of the week for Week 3.

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    Question: What’s your main motivation behind coaching and continuing to coach high school kids?

    Hubbard: The thing that I want to do as a coach is just help these guy to know that through sports, they can learn lessons in life. As a coach, if I’m not taking time to teach those lessons I feel like I’m doing a disservice.

    The thing that I really enjoy is those times later in life when kids call me up and they’re getting married or they’re having kids and knowing that I’ve had an opportunity to have a positive impact in their lives for the future.

    Q: Why do you coach the way you coach?

    Hubbard: The way I coach, I tell the guys that I have two rules. Those two rules are based of General (Norman) Schwarzkopf’s rules of leadership; to take charge and use good judgement.

    I want to build relationships and I want to family. I actually just talked about this (with the team) last week. You can’t build a family with a bunch of rules, but you build a family with relationships. If you’re brought into a family, you’ve got a responsibility to take upon yourself.

    So that’s the way I coach. I think my staff has bought into that also, that we want to build relationships. We still want to hold kids accountable, but that accountability comes from their personal responsibility and love for one another. That’s why I coach the way I do.

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

    Hubbard: I would say that they probably know that first of all, that I care about them. Second of all, they know that I’m passionate about the game and passionate about seeing them be successful. Part of that is holding the kids accountable to being disciplined.

    It’s just a good balance with relationship and with accountability.

    Q: How do you define success through your coaching?

    Hubbard: Success for our coaching is making sure our kids are as successful as they can each individually be and they can collectively be on the field.

    Beyond that, making sure kids are graduating and hopefully going to on to college, whether they’re playing or not, and getting that college degree and getting that great start in life.

    Q: What do you tell your boys going into a game last week where you face the defending state champions?

    Hubbard: Three things that we have that are the core of our program, that have always been a part of my program, we call it our DNA. That is our toughness. That there is no fear no matter who we’re playing and no matter where we’re playing them. And then our love for each other.

    I just reminded the kids of that in the locker room before we took the field against Windsor. I told them that we were going to have to show a lot of toughness tonight against a great team. We’re going to have to come out with no fear and then play for the love of each other.

    The guys did that. The big thing on Friday night was let’s put together four disciplined quarters of football. We had no turnovers, we had less than five penalties in the game and the kids did really good job of playing with discipline and leaving our DNA out there on the field on Friday.

    Q: A lot of coaches like to talk about the lessons that they teach kids after a loss, but what lessons can you teach them coming off a game and a win like you had on Friday?

    Hubbard: It’s the same thing we were preaching all week long and even though we got the win against Wheat Ridge the week before, we had a number of turnovers and a number of penalties and just showing guys that if we can play disciplined football, that it will pay off.

    We might not always win, but at least we’re not fighting ourselves; becoming our own worst enemy. And that was the thing coming out of this win, we were able to point to the fact that our discipline paid off in that game.

    Q: That can be a win that can be special in a season, what do you remember about those moments and those wins and those accomplishments when it comes to your relationship with your kids?

    Hubbard: I’m a pretty reserved coach on the sidelines during the games and pretty reserved during practice. Seeing the kids’ smiles on their faces and hugging each other after the game, it’s the first time they’ve ever beat Windsor is what some of the older kids told me.

    We got the kids together in the endzone at the end of the game and kind of quieted them down and I just let out a huge “Oh yeah!” I think the kids were shocked and we partied for a few more seconds there before we calmed them down again and I think them seeing that emotion from me is something caught them off guard and they were pretty excited about.

    But just seeing the smiles on their faces when we got on the bus and got home was a lot of fun.

  • Broncos high school football coach of the week: Cripple Creek-Victor’s Mark Sampson

    At the end of every football game, Cripple Creek-Victor coach Mark Sampson has his players go to the sidelines to thank their parents, family and friends for coming out and watching them play, no matter the outcome.

    “It’s a little, ‘Hey mom, hey dad, I gave you everything I got,’ kind of moment with gratitude,” Sampson said.

    Coach Sam is in his second year head coaching, although he’s been around Colorado as an assistant since 1999. Cripple Creek-Victor hadn’t won an on-field game since Oct. 30, 2010. But last Friday, Coach Sam and the Pioneers snapped a 35-game losing streak with a 65-31 win over Colorado Deaf & Blind.

    Week 2’s Denver Broncos coach of the week is Coach Sam: a man who has persevered through his own struggles and dedicated his coaching career to helping others persevere through their own adversities.

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    Mark Sampson bio

    Cripple Creek-Victor football coach Mark Sampson
    Cripple Creek-Victor football coach Mark Sampson.

    Years coaching: Two (1-10 overall)

    Years at Cripple Creek-Victor: Two

    Previous stops: Woodland Park assistant (1999-2000), Harrison assistant (2001-2003; 2006-2008), Sierra assistant (2008-2012)

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    Question: Why do you coach?

    Sampson: At the age of 14 I lived on the streets of New York, and I didn’t have a mother or father. I sometimes ate out of dumpsters and slept in a box or broke into the local teen center, and I put myself through high school knowing that to get somewhere in life, I had to have an education.

    Had it not been for a coach and shop teacher, I’d probably be in jail or dead.

    You have to give back, and I run into these types of kids every day. I coach for the opportunity to work with kids and teach them about sports and life; how to do the right thing and helping them believe in themselves and their abilities.

    Q: Why do you coach the way you do?

    Sampson: I’ve been around coaches all of my life and most good coaches will learn from others on the right way to be and motivate others. I’ve been blessed to know quite a few great coaches in my lifetime and I emulate them. I do the right things for the kids.

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

    Sampson: I’ve never thought about it from that end. I believe we must be there for our youth. We are role models. Last week I got an email from a kid I taught four years ago and it thanked me for everything I’d done for him. My assistant coach also used to be my JV quarterback at Harrison, and some of my Woodland Park guys are still some of my best friends. I think that’s what a coach is supposed to do.

    Q: How do you define success in coaching?

    Sampson: It’s not in the wins and losses column, actually. It’s making people understand once they’ve given 100 percent, they’ve given everything they’ve got, and that’s success. The end result comes in wins and losses, but that doesn’t determine success.

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

    Sampson: I’ll be brutally honest, I’ve got so many of them. I think when kids call me after 10-15 years telling me what an effect I had on them.

    (Courtesy of Cripple-Creek Victor)
    Cripple Creek-Victor gave coach Sampson an ice bath after its win. (Courtesy of Cripple Creek-Victor)

    Q: You snapped a 35-game losing streak last week. Can you describe how you felt that entire game, from kickoff to shaking your opponents’ hands?

    Sampson: I’ve worked really hard with these kids and I felt like they were at the point were they could win. The week before we lost to a pretty freakin’ good team by three point. I told my guys that they needed to understand to be humble because they had been on the losing side before.

    Q: How did you celebrate the program’s first win since 2011?

    Sampson: At the end, and it was looking obvious, I got the ol’ water cooler on my head. We’re not finished, good lord, we have six more games to win! So we can prove to people it wasn’t just a fluke.

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

  • Broncos high school football coach of the week: West Grand’s Chris Brown

    West Grand Sanford football
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    KREMMLING — How does a man who has more wins than any other high school football coach in the state congratulate himself when he reaches such an accomplishment?

    Well, if it’s Chris Brown, he doesn’t. He turns the focus to the very reason that he got into coaching in the first place. He turns it to the kids.

    With West Grand’s 38-12 win over Sanford on Friday night, Brown became the all-time wins leader in the state. But his mind wasn’t on the record. It was hoping his kids would start 1-0 on the season.

    His 307th win was the most important win to him, but only because it was the next game on the schedule.

    “About maybe one percent,” is how much the record was on his mind.

    A man like that with so much love and passion for teaching kids about football and life was an easy pick for Week 1’s Denver Broncos coach of the week.

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    Chris Brown bio

    Years coaching: 40 (307-123, No. 1 all-time)

    Years at West Grand: 36

    Previous stops: Limon (1976-78), John Mall (1979), West Grand (1980-present)

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    Question: Why do you coach?

    Brown: I just love what I do. I can’t believe they pay me for this.

    I was a teacher too. Loved it. That’s how stupid I am, I came back and taught for three or for years for no pay. I volunteered.

    I taught a personal finance class for free, I taught my weight lifting class for free. It was just something to do.

    Q: Why do you coach the way you do?

    Brown: I just think that these guys’ career … it’s over (after high school) for most kids. You better have a purpose besides blocking and tackling because they probably won’t block and tackle too many people once they graduate.

    At the time, those were great goals, techniques and fundamentals to work on, but eventually you better have something else.

    If you’re goal is to win a state title every year, I mean I have four. Four out of 40. That’s an F.

    You fail most of the time if that’s the only goal you have. Our goal is to play the best we can play each week and get better. That’s our goal.

    Our purpose is to try and take young men and get some integrity in them and teach them right from wrong and hope some of that sticks with them when they get older.

    Q: If it’s not 307 wins or state titles, how do you define success in coaching?

    Brown: If you have those years where you have a chance at it, you have to have it up there as a possibility.

    But to be the best you can be, that’s a great goal.

    And then at the end you can kind of evaluate if we were the best we can be. Some years we’ve overachieved and some years we’ve kind of underachieved.

    Probably some of that is a good job of not looking back and trying to do this or that. It’s a usual game. Fans do it. Might as well have the coaches do it too.

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

    Brown: I hope I’m a positive influence. I hope it’s a good time and (the kids) are learning something, not only football but life lessons.

    Never quitting, good sportsmanship, how to treat people and all that. I think that’s important.

    Q: When you talk about sportsmanship and those values, what do you do to instill those values into these kids through football?

    Brown: Well, if the other team doesn’t show up, we don’t have a game. You have to treat (your opponents) with respect. They’re trying to do the same things you’re doing.

    They’ll play their best and some days, they play better than you. So you have to realize that.

    When you watch our kids, when we tackle someone we help them up and we’ve been doing that for years and years. I don’t like any bad talking, any swearing, that kind of stuff I guess.