PARKER — The Heaps of faith started at 7 a.m. this past Monday under scattered clouds and battered iron.
On the first day of Legend’s football summer camp, Ryken Banks thought he knew the drill. Except for the bit where his new coach decided he was Hellbent on being an active part of it.
“He walks in the weight room, and he looks over at us, and he was like, ‘I’m next,’” Banks, the Titans’ running back, said of Jake Heaps’ first June in Legend blue. “So, he hops in.”
Before long, Banks, who averaged 6.4 yards per carry over his first three varsity seasons, was doing something he’d never done during a Titans lifting session before: Spotting his head coach on the bench press.
“Playing since I was a freshman, I’ve kind of had the same thing for three years,” the 6-foot-1 senior reflected. “Getting this new thing, seeing the type of players we have and (Heaps) really playing to the best of our abilities, it’s just kind of a new, refreshing thing that’s exciting.”
Dave Logan’s Cherry Creek dynasty rolls on like the Gunnison River. Valor Christian is tweaking again. Legend? Your reigning Class 5A football runners-up might be the most fascinating Front Range gridiron tale south of Boulder this fall.
Bolles on board
This past February, longtime coach Monte Thelen was replaced by Heaps, better known around these parts as Russell Wilson’s personal QB guru.
It’s one of those hiring Hail Marys that can get an athletic director in hot water if things go off the rails. Yet the Titans haven’t stopped swinging big since. Quarterback DJ Bordeaux, a three-star passer who’s committed to Boston College, got a hardship waiver to enroll at Legend, making the Titans his fourth program in four years. One of Heaps’ first hires was to bring in Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles on board to serve as director of player development.
“So, our wives are best friends. We’re best friends,” the affable Heaps, who quarterbacked BYU (2010-11), Kansas (2012-13) and Miami (2014), told me last week. “Our kids are playing the same flag football games together. And so we got really close. But going back to the mantra of we’re going to do it better than everybody’s ever done it before. I mean, I’ve got this unbelievable resource. How am I not going to get him involved in our program?
“When I took the job, (Bolles) was like, ‘OK, what can I do?’ He wanted to jump in and be on the coaching staff. And I’m like, ‘Oh, buddy, hey, you’ve got other things to do here, man.’ When you’re done playing, heck yeah, we’ll do this thing together. But I’ve got to keep you in a certain role. I don’t need George Payton and Sean Payton breathing down my neck, you know what I mean?”
There will be more Broncos, past and present, in and around Hilltop Road in the months to come, if Heaps can keep pulling strings.
“We’re working on it,” the coach said. “… We got some good relationships still there (at Dove Valley). And so, yeah, we’re, I’m working all those things and not trying to put it all out there all at once, but yeah — we’re taking advantage of that connection. For sure.”
Sean Payton?
He laughed.
“That’s a Garett question,” Heaps countered. “He’s always welcome. We would love to have him, for sure. But we’re excited. I think Garett having that connection is just a fun opportunity for these kids to get exposed to that.”
Russ, too?
“I don’t know if I could get him to come back for the bye week,” Heaps replied. “But Russ will certainly have an influence and an opportunity to meet our kids, and for them to meet him, absolutely. How can I not pull all the resources that I possibly can?”
Was Russ OK with this?
“That was a really cool conversation, because I couldn’t take this job without his blessing,” Heaps continued. “That’s my first priority. And the school knew that.
“And immediately he was like, ‘You’ve got to do this. You are born to do this. This is going to be such a great opportunity for you to grow your craft.’ (Him) recognizing that as a best friend, which is what he truly is, was really cool and really special.”
‘I don’t want to try to be Dave Logan’
Legend built something special under Thelen, too, which only adds to the intrigue. Heaps, meanwhile, had never coached in this state, or at this level, before the Titans sought him out. Why this gig? Why now?
“I crave impact,” Heaps said. “And the reason why I crave it is because I know how important it was to me in my career, in my journey. And how important (my) high school coach was to me and shaping me and who I am and what I became.”
The office still needs some shaping. Actually, it’s not so much an office as a skeletal approximation of the old “Gruden’s QB Camp” set. A whiteboard hangs from one wall, opposite a wall that’s entirely a whiteboard. A small couch is tucked into a back corner.
“And eventually we’ll get like a little desk over here with a couple monitors and all that,” Heaps said. “Get it ready for the film-watching and all that good stuff.”
With Wilson with the Giants and ex-Ohio State QB Will Howard, another protégé, in Pittsburgh, Heaps figures to be racking up the airline miles soon, breaking down Grandview and Columbine tape while jet-setting to NFL stops. Which sounds not unlike a certain voice of the Broncos, now that you mention it.
“(Logan) is a legend here, and he’s done such a great job,” Heaps said. “It’s so unique to take over all the programs that he has had and then to churn out consistent, constant winners … he’s been a winner his entire life. And so you admire people like that.
“And Dave is Dave. I can’t be Dave, but I can be Jake Heaps … I don’t want to try to be Dave Logan. I don’t want to try to be anybody else. Dave’s uniquely Dave. I want to be me. And that’s how I’m going to do this thing: Full throttle.”
Among his players, though, that 13-10 loss to Logan’s Bruins in the 5A title game still burns. The Titans even have a group rolling that’s called “ABC.”
As in, Always Beat Creek.
“I’m absolutely grateful for what we had last year. Don’t get me wrong,” Legend wideout Ryan Iglesias said. “But this year the hype is up, and we’re ready to hit the hype. We have everything we need.
“I’d say we’re the bar. I don’t think anyone else is the bar. I think it’s us … we’re a better team than we were before. It’s going to be the best year we’ve ever had yet. Mark my words. We’re the bar.”
Heaps has Pete Carroll on speed dial. He could hook on with any number of NFL and college staffs from coast to coast. Instead, he’s grinding away in a room with no desk yet. Lifting with his kids at the crack of dawn.
“It’s just really funny,” Iglesias noted. “Not only is it super cool to see your coach lift like that, but I think it’s better because we get to connect with our coach personally. It’s so much fun because obviously I get to lift with my boys, and then I get to lift with another head coach that I really love.”
And like it or not, he’s next.
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