AURORA | The opening week of the 2013 prep football season got a whole lot more interesting, as Justin Hoffman will be on the Smoky Hill sideline when the Buffaloes take on Hoffman’s former team, Gateway.
After six seasons as head coach at Gateway — and 16 total with the Olys — Hoffman accepted the job at Smoky Hill on Monday.
Hoffman’s new team will face off against his old one to kick off the new season at Aurora Public Schools Stadium. The teams played last season, with Gateway winning 26-0 over Smoky Hill and coach John Thompson, who stepped down in December.
“The kids were thankful for the opportunity to be coached by me and the staff, and I was in turn grateful and humble they would act the way they did,” Hoffman said of his last meeting with his Gateway team Monday. “They said ‘good luck and we’ll miss you coach, we’re still going to try to get you in Week 1.’”
Hoffman is the second hire with an Aurora football program in three days, as Hinkley tabbed Jaron Cohen — formerly of Liberty High School in Colorado Springs — on Friday.
Hoffman, who played football at Aurora Central High School, coached linebackers for three years and was the defensive coordinator for seven at Gateway before taking over the head job when Jeff Sweet stepped down after the 2006 season.
In six seasons at the helm, Hoffman was 28-32 and led the Olys to berths in the Class 5A state playoffs for the past five seasons. His best season was the recently completed 2012 campaign, when Gateway finished 7-3 and he was voted the Aurora League Coach of Year. The Olys suffered an agonizing loss to Regis Jesuit in the first round of the postseason.
Hoffman takes over a program at Smoky Hill that was left with a void at the top when Thompson departed after seven seasons. The Buffaloes were 21-49 under Thompson, including a 4-6 mark in 2012 that ended with a 46-43 victory over Denver East in a non-league Week 10 contest.
Smoky Hill returns a dynamic duo on offense in quarterback Trent Clay — a three-year starter — and wide receiver Frank Thomas. Clay passed for 1,579 yards and 14 touchdowns, six of them to Thomas, who had 34 catches for 482 yards. Both were tabbed second team All-Centennial League.
Personnel might dictate a change in philosophy for Hoffman, whose teams run the ball heavily out of the veer.
“We’re going to put ourselves in position to win football games,” Hoffman said. “Do we know what that looks like yet? No. We don’t know what we have for a line, do we have a tight end? There are a lot of things we’re going do in terms of evaluating. I like running the football and having an offensive line with an attitude, so that’s going to be one of the first things we evaluate. Defensively, they have some guys coming back, so we’ll be able to see exactly where things fit.
“It sounds cliche, but we’re going to do the things we’re good at and work on the ones we aren’t good at.”
Now, the only coaching vacancy in the city is at Gateway. Hoffman, ironically, also serves as the school’s athletic director, who typically oversees the hiring of new coaches. He said Aurora Public Schools district athletic director Tony Antolini and Gateway principal Bill Hedges will be the main players in the search for a replacement.
“Sixteen years is a long time at one place, so there are a lot of memories,” Hoffman said. “You certainly think about all the kids and how they are taking it.
“It’s affecting them, but at the same time, guys have to understand that there are transitions in life and this is mine.”
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
JUSTIN HOFFMAN’S HEAD COACHING RECORD AT GATEWAY
2007: 1-9 (missed Class 5A state playoffs); 2008: 5-5 (lost in 1st round of 5A playoffs to Poudre); 2009: 4-6 (lost in 1st round of 5A playoffs to Arvada West); 2010: 6-4 (lost in 1st round of 5A playoffs to Bear Creek); 2011: 5-5 (lost in 1st round of 5A playoffs to Lakewood); 2012: 7-3 (lost in 1st round of 5A playoffs to Regis Jesuit)