AURORA | Twenty-four hours before the start of practices for the 2014 football season, Smoky Hill High School fired head coach Justin Hoffman.
Athletic director Preston Davis said Monday that the decision was made to replace Hoffman after he came to the school’s administration last week and informed them he had applied for a job in a different school district. Not wanting to potentially replace a coach just days before the Buffaloes’ first game — a Zero Week contest against former Centennial League rival Overland on Aug. 23 — the administration chose to let Hoffman go.
Davis — who has extensive football coaching experience and is also Smoky Hill’s varsity boys lacrosse coach — will take over the team for the upcoming season and will look for a full-time coach afterwards.
“We had a lot of conversations: Do we wait and hang on until all that settles and be looking for a coach two weeks prior to our Zero Week game? or are we waiting until Monday of next week when the kids have gone through five, six, or seven practices or do we say we’re thinking about the kids first,” Davis said shortly after a meeting to inform players.
“We want to have the most consistent coaching staff for the year and not make changes later on. …We have no ill will toward Coach Hoffman. We understand what he’s done here has been great. He started building a program in the right direction and brought pride back to the school. This was a decision we made based on what is right for kids and having something consistent instead of having things up in the air leading up to the season.”
Hoffman, who is still teaching physical education at Smoky Hill, didn’t dispute Davis’ account of the situation, however he added that he had not been interviewed for the job he’d applied for and that it was a rare opportunity that is “not a lateral move and not a football job.”
“Wow, I would have never guessed this in 1,000 years,” a stunned Hoffman said shortly after he’d cleaned his things out of the Smoky Hill football office, where he talked to a few of his players.
“I just can’t believe I don’t have practice in three hours. …I feel terrible for my guys. We battled all summer and we did a lot of good things, so I’m going to miss them. I love those guys,” Hoffman added, his voice cracking with emotion. “I still can’t believe it.”
“We don’t talk about winning, we talk about character development and what we do as men. We want to teach them to act with honor and integrity and they’ve responded to it. I love my guys and just because I’m not the head coach, it’s not going to take that away.”
It is already a season of change for Smoky Hill, which is set to play in a new conference for the first time in a very long time in football only.
In a new realignment plan approved by the Colorado High School Activities Association’s Board of Control, Smoky Hill was shifted from its longtime home in the Centennial League to the South Metro League — which includes other Aurora schools Gateway, Hinkley and Rangeview, along with Arapahoe, Grand Junction and Heritage — for at least the next two-year cycle.
The Buffaloes now move into the new conference without Hoffman, who left Gateway after 16 years on the football coaching staff — 10 as an assistant and six as head coach — to take the Smoky Hill job prior to last season after former coach John Thompson stepped down following a seven-year run on the sideline.
The fiery Hoffman brought a surge of energy to the program and things improved, even though the Buffaloes had a 2-8 season that ended with a 28-21 win over Highlands Ranch in a non-playoff Week 10 contest. Though a lot of talent graduated — including four-year varsity starting quarterback Trent Clay — Hoffman felt the program was ready to take another step forward in 2014.
He never got the chance, however. Hoffman remains proud of the change he and his staff brought about in little over a season.
“We built a great repoire with the kids like we did at Gateway, it’s no different,” Hoffman said. “I’ve been nothing but supportive of my guys, the guys that played for me before and the guys that I was going to coach this year. They’ve been nothing but supportive of me and what we are doing and how we do things. It’s a good thing when you teach the kids right and they respond the right way when things get tough.”
Instead, it is Davis who will run Smoky Hill’s afternoon practice and seek to fill his staff with other coaches in the building.
“I’ve coached for quite a long time, so it’s not like I’m stepping in with no background knowledge,” Davis said. “I’m reaching out to my connections and ready to move forward.”
Hoffman continues to wait on the new job opportunity and in the meantime will first help some of his assistant coaches find jobs.
“I’m going to take care of my guys who have been with me for a long time if they want to still be in the coaching field,” he said. “I’m going to take a bit of a step back and just look at it and look at what I do and how I do things. I’m going to look for my assistants first before I do that; that’s the way to do things as a head coach.”
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
Wow. Tough school.
You can’t call the man in and ask for his commitment?
Davis enjoys firing coaches. In his few years as the Smoky Hll AD, he has fired 2 cheer coaches and a pom coach and a football coach.
What is Smoky Hill teaching their students? You should never apply for a better job or try to better yourself or you will be fired. Also, honesty will get you fired too.
Hoffman showed character by being honest and up front. Smoky Hill showed what happens to honest people.
Coach Hoff needs to come back the energy is going to be lost this season
I vote for that !!!!!
Coach Hoffman is an outstanding coach that earned respect and dedication from his players. He worked with them and made each person feel important and respected. Firing him “for the sake of the kids”, has to be one of the lamest excuses heard so far. Players are upset with his dismissal, emotions are at a high with families and the earnest drive to play a good game for the team and their beloved coach has disappeared. Many people have been impacted by this decision in a extremely negative way. The wisdom used make he decision to replace all coaches and change plays just days before the first games is questionable.
As a parent of a Smoky Hill football player my child was excited for this years football season, upon picking him up yesterday after practice I watched the excitement for the season and the game leave him. The players were brought into a players only meeting yesterday and were told of the firing of their coach. The boys were upset and rightfully so. They were also told that nothing was going to change however, at practice the changes began. Stretches were not the same, yesterday the motto of “Roll Hill” was changed to just “Go Buffs”. I realize that with new coaches change is bound to happen. But do not tell these young men that nothing is going to change and then change everything. The boys were informed today that they are going to have to learn all new plays which is going to be difficult considering that their first game is on August 23rd. What is this new coach teaching these young men that it is ok to say one thing and then do another. And again as a parent of one of these young men I am upset with the school and the district for not sending out any information about what has happened. And the only information I have received is information from my son, other parents and this article. Coach Hoffman is a stand up gentle who put forth the effort to help these young men achieve greatness on and off the field. He should be the one leading these boys not Coach Davis. Good Luck Coach Hoff
Should hear from more parents and players. This did not do anything for anyone that was involved — guess only Mr davis is the winner here . The players lose .
So, after sitting down with my son and discussing this situation from him, his take is the Smoky Hill Administration punishes those who show the values I am trying to instill within my own son, and that is honesty and integrity. Coach Hoff was a great addition and with this being my sons Sophomore year, he was looking forward to another year with a man who has become a role model to him. Coach Hoff believes in all of his players and his players in turn believe in him. This is why my son is on the fence about playing this year now. What is the school trying to prove here? If this is what the administration feels is an acceptable answer “This was a decision we made based on what is right for kids and having something consistent instead of having things up in the air leading up to the season” then obviously they did not speak to any of our young adults, us as parents or boosters and they are just showing them another example of inconsistency. Bring back Hoff…
As parents it’s up to us to use this situation as a learning experience. Change happens in life. It’s up to us whether we sink or swim. We have an amazing group of coaches coming on to help out, all with years of experience. It’s a shame the other coaches didn’t stay on for the kids, but that was their choice. We’re extremely lucky to have the coaches we do now. Clearly there was more to this situation than we’re being told, but we need to respect that there is a reason we’re not being told. We can all sit around and complain or we can focus on the positives, set a good example for our kids and move on.
This was a tough decision for Smoky Hill and Coach Hoffman. Coach Hoffman did a great job, in ONE year, with Smoky. He distilled pride and hard work back to the SHHS Football Program. Also, Hoffman took a major pay cut after he excepted the Head Coaching position at Smoky Hill. Before passing judgment, know the whole story. Coach Hoffman was looking for another AD job in another district for money reasons; can’t fault him for that at all(Family is first). This had to be a very tough decision for Hoffman because he new there was a chance this could happen but he has to look out for his family. As most adults know, this is the REAL WORLD. When you’re looking for another job in your same industry and your boss finds out, do they say, “that’s ok, good luck with your job interviews, let us know when get the job.” No, they fire you, usually on the spot. This is no secret. This is Smoky’s(Most High Schools) policy with their head coaches. You MUST be a teacher at Smoky if you are a head coach, seems pretty clear to me. Coach Davis stepped in and pulled together a very experienced football staff within a 48 hour period and they are all focused on making this a great experience and program for the players this season. On that note, I know our young men are in VERY good hands with the new VERY EXPERIENCED coaching staff. This is a STRONG group of young men and they will learn from this situation and move on. Hoffman is going to become an AD and move on to another program and help turn them around as well. ROLL HILL!!!
Most of the Head coaches at Smoky Hill do not teach in the building.
Very experienced at losing, take a look at the programs these coaches came from and the records of the teams they coached for. There is a reason why these coaches did not have a job the day before practice started.
So what happens to the kids when Coach Hoffman accepted the position and bails on them 1,2,3 or more days into the season? If he truly cared about the kids he would have said thanks but no thanks to the other opportunity because it was just too close to the season. Other opportunities would have come up…you don’t bail on the people who entrusted the program to you or your kids that close to the season.
seems to me that the firing of coach hoffman was not well thought out rather a hasty decision from the A.D. & principle of smokyhill high school wonder if the school board had knowledge of the firing. Seems to me and hopefully to other concerned parents that the parents of the players on the team could have been better informed instead of the way it came about.When you had a coach like coach HOFFMAN that you would have let him build the buffs football program to a whole new level it dont happen over night might even take a couple years but what a football program that would be.!!! rather than firing a great coach pay him what he’s worth!!!!!!!
Preston Davis is rah rah and bush. The man knows nothing about sports and will try and convince you that he could coach anything….I know…I coached with the guy one season. But what should you expect there? Preston Davis is the kind of guy who will shake your hand to your face, then extend his middle finger to you when you turn your back. He is bad for kids, sports, and it is obvious that he has talked his way into an A.D. job.