The Colorado high school football season kicks off with a handful of Week 0 games this week, followed by the rest of the state jumping into play next week. Here are eight storylines to watch:
All In, All Covered: Teams across the state are taking the field this fall in new Riddell Axiom helmets donated by the Denver Broncos. As part of the team’s All In, All Covered program announced in January, the NFL franchise supplied helmets to any team that wanted them at all levels of Colorado high school football. And nearly all of the state’s programs are participating. The overall donation of more than 15,000 helmets is worth about $12 million and is the largest philanthropic investment in Broncos history.
Year of the tight end: Months after two former Colorado prep tight ends were selected in the NFL draft (Heritage’s Terrance Ferguson to the L.A. Rams and Cherry Creek’s Gunnar Helm to Tennessee), the Centennial State is stacked with top-tier TEs once again. Headlining the group are a trio of senior FBS recruits in Cherry Creek’s Ty Goettsche (BYU), Mullen’s Mason Bonner (Michigan) and Heritage’s Camden Jensen (UCLA). But they’re far from alone. Erie senior Gabe Sema is Northern Arizona-bound, while Grandview junior Matthew Schimberg has a stack of D-I offers. No doubt, a few others will emerge along the Front Range.
Busy signing day: Of course, it’s not just the tight end position that’s loaded in the Box State. A total of 27 seniors are committed to play for FBS programs in college next fall, according to 247Sports.com, and that number is likely to grow between now and national signing day in December. To add some context, 18 Colorado preps signed with FBS programs a year ago, and five of those players went to Power 4 teams. The number of Power 4 pledges entering the 2025 Colorado prep season: 14. Yowza!
College to preps: For the second year in a row, Valor Christian went to the college ranks to find a coach to push its program to the very top of Class 5A. A year ago, ex-Colorado Mines and Montana coach Bob Stitt was brought in to be Bret McGatlin’s offensive coordinator. After a 5A semifinal loss to Cherry Creek in November, McGatlin stepped down and Mike Sanford was chosen to replace him. The former University of Colorado offensive coordinator and interim head coach inherits a team that’s big and burly at the line of scrimmage, with high-level athletes all over the field. The biggest job in the state comes with big expectations. It’s Sanford’s turn to try to meet them.
Pros to preps: Somehow, Sanford might not even be the biggest name of the 2025 offseason hiring cycle. The Legend Titans went big-game hunting themselves when they replaced outgoing head coach Monte Thelen with Jake Heaps. Russell Wilson’s full-time quarterback coach and confidant played quarterback for BYU, Kansas and Miami in college. Now he’s expected to open up a Legend offense best-known for pounding opponents into submission under Thelen. With Boston College commit DJ Bordeaux at quarterback, Heaps has just the pupil to pull it off.
More coaching carousel: A whole lot of familiar faces will be in new places this fall. Among the most notable, former Pomona and Legacy boss Jay Madden has taken over at ThunderRidge, with former Dakota Ridge head coach Ron Woitalewicz serving as his offensive coordinator. McGatlin is heading up Denver Christian after three seasons at Valor, former Westminster and Denver North head coach CJ Hanna is now at Arvada West, well-traveled Front Range coach Mike Campbell is leading Doherty, and one-time Falcon coach Trevor Hudson is the third head coach in three years at Pine Creek after he claimed a CIF title last fall.
Dark horse candidate: Is Mullen football back? If you’re looking for a team to rise up the ranks this fall, there may be no better option than the Mustangs. Mullen will run a brutal nonconference gauntlet, including a visit to emerging California power Crean Lutheran in Irvine, but Jeremy Bennett’s squad has the depth to come out on the other side OK. They also have the high-end talent to land a few blows, including Bonner at tight end, future FBS linebacker Troy Mailo, third-year starting QB Koa Dietrich and a state champion heavyweight wrestler up front in Champion Dyes.
Can anyone top Cherry Creek?: Dave Logan was the man running the show the last time the Mullen Mustangs were truly rolling. Now his Bruins are the king of the hill in Class 5A, and they’re going for an eighth consecutive trip to the title game and sixth championship since the 2019 season. With eight senior FBS commits, including the No. 1 recruit in the state in four-star defensive lineman Tufanua Ionatana Umu-Cais, Creek is stocked with talent. But, as they say, that’s why they play the games.
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