AURORA | After a tremendous run of stability in its coaching staff, the Cherokee Trail football team will have its third head coach in as many seasons when the 2017 season kicks off.
Monte Thelen — who began the program when the school opened in 2004 — stepped down after the 2015 season and subsequently took the head coaching job at Legend and his replacement, longtime defensive coordinator Dain Mangnall, has left the job after just one season Cherokee Trail athletic director Steve Carpenter told the Sentinel Tuesday.
Mangnall finished with a 5-6 record in 2016 in which the Cougars again qualified for the Class 5A state playoffs, even as the field shrunk from 32 to 16 teams. Cherokee Trail — which finished 3-2 in its first season in the Mount Evans League — lost to Valor Christian in the opening round.
“The job opens tomorrow (Wednesday), the committee is already getting set to begin the process,” Carpenter said. “This is uncharted territory for us.”
The growing stress of being a head football coach has begun to prompt some coaches to step down, as Seth Replogle did at Overland last November for health reasons. The Trailblazers filled their open job a month later by hiring former Denver Bronco Steve Sewell.
Carpenter is interested to see the type of applicants Cherokee Trail will get this time around after there wasn’t a lot of interest last season. The program set a very high bar under Thelen, who guided the Cougars to the 5A state championship game and semifinals in consecutive seasons.
Cherokee Trail has made the playoffs in 12 of its 13 seasons.
With a continually improving culture of winning and a strength and conditioning that rivals maybe any other in the entire state, the position looks it should garner interest.
“I don’t see why Cherokee Trail wouldn’t be an attractive job,” Carpenter said.
Interested applicants can visit the Cherry Creek School District website on Wednesday to find a job description.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
