Millennial Dave Logan? You laugh, but Mike Sanford regards that tag as a compliment.
“I am a kind of swagger-jacking that of the Dave Logan model, which must be visible,” said the new Valor Christian Football coach, former CU Buffs Assistant/Interim and current radio and TV personality, me Monday. “To be visible through the temporary employment world and the sports media in the Denver room while you strive for something that you love, that coaches.”
Logan has laid a high beam here for decades, from the schedule to the temporary employment cabin to the General Zeitgeist. It is one thing to join him. Can you beat him? Because That is the performance. That is The assignment.
“I mean, that’s a wonderful thing, is that the work now starts in the direction of (that),” said Sanford. “(Logan’s) was the gold standard in the state. And I know this from 25 years ago when my father coached at USC and Notre Dame, and he recruited the state of Colorado and had Mullen High School. … it was a long -existing deal.
“And so, yes, it’s easy for me to say,” Yes, I can, I can beat him. ” But we all know the work that has to go inside.
“But no doubt, the goal is to win a state championship. And whoever is in the state championship game, I mean, it seems that it is usually Cherry Creek and Dave Logan on the one hand, and then someone else on the other. “
Donnie Yantis was on the other side in 2020 and ’21 and could not cross the line. He left in the winter of ’22 after a second straight defeat for Creek in the 5A title game.
Bret McGatlin, a sincere representative of one of the first coaching families in Colorado, was on the other side of the 5A championship against Logan in 2022. He could not get over the line either and finally resigned in January.
Why don’t you accept a less stressful job, such as Lion Tamer, Mob Informant or Air Traffic Controller? Valor football eats good men for breakfast and then spits out the bones.
The only bar that matters is that class 5a Kroon won Ed McCaffrey seven years ago. The Eagles have since been 0-3 in title games, while Logan and Creek five of the last six 5A championships have broken up.
“If you look at a seven-year sample size (since 2018), if I am not mistaken, two of the coaches were only two years of stints,” the 43-year-old Sanford continued. “Ed and Donnie were both two -year -old Stints. And I think that at high school level that kind of lack of continuity, With Bryan Ritz, (Valor’s) head of schoolThat was almost priority No. 1 for him in conversations with me: my commitment and long -term investments in courage.
“And then I echoed that conversation (by saying):” I want to feel that Valor has been invested as much in me as I have invested in Valor. ” And when we found that alignment, that is what I think this thing pushed to continue.
“I think the number 1 was that continuity was not there. And I think Bryan, who is new in his role … he just sees that the program must have consistency of leadership. And that is clear what he wanted to make sure that I was dedicated before he finished my rent. ‘
That dedication is also for Denver. From 2005 to ’22, Sanford worked in nine different university campuses and became an FBS head coach at the Tender age of 34 in West-Kentuucky, where he placed a 9-16 mark in two seasons (2017-18). He spent more than ten years sailing the Express Lane in football coaching circles and worked for David Shaw in Stanford and Brian Kelly at Notre Dame.
He also didn’t even know for sure if he wanted to go to the university coaching again, where NIL and the Transfer Portal rewritten the rules, and where Deion Sanders and Bill Belichick have become the new normal. But after he had dropped off his oldest child a few months ago before the start of ninth grade, he did a quick count and realized that this was her 12th school in nine years. There were offers, but Sanford did not want to uproot the family.
“The timing,” he explained, “met the calling.”
Speaking of calls, Sanford says that Notre Dame offered him his OC job ten years ago, a view of the face. And that West -Kennucky only needed one interview to land that job.
Courage? Valor let him go through six.
“I think the concern was (with) me:” Did you tackle a parent community? “Sanford recalled. “And the thing that was so cool for me was that I was not only involved with parent communities for the past two years (via Carbon Valley Parks and REC Softball), it was my favorite part of coaching youth sports. … I learned that the children are always great. The children are great. Parents can be a challenge. But parents can be a big advantage if the right protocols are entered and communication is handled correctly. … parents who are communicative and out for it, I think you will end up in a really positive relationship. And that is what I intend to do with the parents of our (players). ‘
College coaches have the portal. NFL coaches have agents. Prep coaches must navigate mum and dad.
“If I do this, I want to stick to a standard where you compete at the highest level for the highest bet,” said Sanford. “Don’t just be soft and just enjoy it a bit.”
Cushy is not in the cards. Sanford will continue to host Radio on Altitude and do Broncos Postgame analysis on TV in the fall. And less than 17 hours after he was announced as the successor to McGatlin, the new Valor coach held a voluntary training for the Eagles at 8:30 Saturday morning to break the ice and let different balls roll.
That, I told Sanford, sounds very much like how those Logan -Man performs things in Greenwood Village.
“(Dave) has been so good for me for the past three years,” said Sanford.
“Did he congratulate you on taking the job?” I wondered.
“No, we didn’t talk,” Sanford replied. “I would say that our relationship seems more – personally, when we have seen each other, we have had great conversations. But yes, we have not been to the kind of texting, calling (each other), you know, that kind of place. “
Private respect New Dave Old Dave. A lot of. But is this city big enough for two of them? For better or worse, we’re going to sort it out.
Originally published:
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