AURORA | The only head coach the Cherokee Trail football team has ever known has stepped down, as Monte Thelen is done with the program after 13 seasons.
Thelen — one of the original coaches when the newest Cherry Creek Schools District high school opened in 2003 — guided the program from its inaugural junior varsity season through brief stops in Classes 3A and 4A and eventually to the cusp of a 5A state championship in 2012.
Under Thelen and a coaching staff with a lot of stability, Cherokee Trail quickly became a force and has reached the playoffs in 11 of its 12 varsity seasons. After playing for a state championship in 2012 — when the Cougars lost 9-0 to Valor Christian and former star Christian McCaffrey — and a semifinal appearance the following season, Cherokee Trail has gone a combined 8-12 the past two season, which got Thelen thinking it might be time for a change.
“After reflection of how this season went and how last season went, neither of them really hit the standards that we’ve been trying to build with the program,” Thelen told the Sentinel Thursday, a few hours after he met with the team to deliver the news of what he termed his retirement.
“I just thought that this was the best thing to do so the program can move forward,” he added. “I think there’s some discontent among the CT football community and I wanted to unify it as much as I can.
“I love CT football players, they are my favorite people in the world and I’m going to keep supporting them. It has been a fantastic experience. Cherokee Trail is a great place and the people are super, everybody involved, the students, faculty, administration and parents. CT is near and dear to my heart.”
Cherokee Trail athletic director Steve Carpenter had no comment.
Thelen, who will turn 55 soon, said he has no plans to coach anywhere else and will stay at the school teaching and helping out with the track team in the spring.
He finishes his run as Cherokee Trail head coach with an 89-48 overall record, capped by the Cougars’ 19-14 loss to Heritage on Nov. 7 at Littleton Public Schools Stadium in the first round of the 5A playoffs.
Thelen guided the program all way from the early days when the majority of the players weighed less than 100 pounds through a stint in the 3A Denver Metro League, then the 4A Skyline League — where the Cougars lost a 6-0 overtime contest to Monarch for a chance to play for the state championship in 2007 — and then the next season into 5A and the Centennial League, where the program became relevant quickly.
Cherokee Trail now sends 300-pounders such as offensive line Ashton Torres (a recent Montana commitment) to play in college.
If not for McCaffrey, the current Stanford star and former Valor Christian standout, Cherokee Trail might have a championship ring, but the powerhouse Eagles topped the Cougars 9-0 in the 2012 5A state title game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High — a game in which the Cherokee Trail defense did the best job any unit had in slowing McCaffrey during his high school days — and also stopped them in the semifinals the next season.
Like a proud papa, Thelen lets the program go to hopefully take the next step.
“It is a great place and I think our record speaks for itself; I think our first 10 years as a varsity program we averaged eight wins a year and these last two years we only had eight total, so there’s certainly a dip in that,” Thelen said.
“It’s a great place full of really good kids and really good coaches and I’m sure the program is going to be back very, very quickly. We’ve got a pretty good standard that we’ve set there and I certainly am proud of it.
“It’s been a labor of love, but it is time to move on to the next chapter of my career,” he added.
Cherokee Trail will find itself in a different league next season for football as 5A will redistribute its teams based on a waterfall system that takes into account the strength of programs over the past two seasons.
Even before the current football season is over, Cherokee Trail has the first known head coaching opening among Aurora football programs ahead of the 2016 campaign.
Last offseason, five new head coaches were hired among Aurora programs — Travis Peeples at Aurora Central, Justin Hoffman at Rangeview, Danny Filleman at Regis Jesuit, John Trahan at Smoky Hill and John Sullivan at Vista PEAK.
With Rangeview dismissing successful coach Dave Gonzales — who took over for Thelen when he left to start the Cherokee Trail program — prior to last season, Thelen took over as the city coach with the longest tenure. That distinction now belongs to Grandview’s John Schultz, who is in his 11th season with the Wolves.
Thelen came over from Rangeview to be part of Cherokee Trail’s first coaching staff, which has lost him and softball coach Dick Hormann in the last year in their original positions.
Allan Dyer (baseball), Terry Miller (volleyball) — who just won a state championship — Jeremy Schaller (soccer) and Chris Faust (boys track & field, cross country) remain from the school’s original group of coaches.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
MONTE THELEN’S COACHING RECORD BY SEASON AT CHEROKEE TRAIL
2015: 5-5 overall (lost in 1st round of Class 5A state playoffs); 2014: 3-7 overall (lost in 1st round of 5A state playoffs); 2013: 10-3 overall (lost in semifinals of 5A state playoffs); 2012: 12-2 overall (lost in 5A state championship game); 2011: 6-4 overall (lost in 1st round of 5A state playoffs); 2010: 11-2 overall (lost in semifinals of 5A state playoffs); 2009: 6-5 overall (lost in 2nd round of 5A state playoffs); 2008: 7-4 overall (lost in 2nd round of 5A state playoffs); 2007: 12-1 overall (lost in semifinals of 4A state playoffs); 2006: 9-2 overall (lost in 1st round of 4A state playoffs); 2005: 6-5 overall (lost in 1st round of 3A state playoffs); 2004: 2-8 overall (missed 3A state playoffs); 2003: Junior varsity schedule
