New coach Gill has Desert Vista football revved up this spring
Nate Gill hits Phoenix Desert Vista’s synthetic turf football field with a bounce in his step this spring day.
Even the regular commute off the 202 freeway for spring practice from Sierra Linda, where he’s finishing out the school year teaching, can’t keep the smile off his face.
He called taking the Desert Vista job in January, when it was offered to him, “A no brainer.”
He left Sierra Linda in better shape than any time in the school’s history, leading it to an 8-2 record, after going through 2020 without any football and going winless in 2019.
Now he faces a different challenge. The Thunder checks all of the boxes when it comes to amenities and getting kids to come out. But he’ll be the third head coach in three years.
And that’s not always easy getting kids to buy into a new personality, a new set of rules, expectations and Xs and Os. But so far so good.
Quarterback Braxton Thomas, a 2024 prospect who has attracted major college interest this spring, will have a full season after sitting out half of last season after transferring in from Chandler High.
“Compared to here and Chandler, it’s similar intensity at practice,” Thomas said. “Gil is doing a great job with the new group, the coaching staff and players.”
As much as Ty Wisdom’s offense was wide open in his one year at Desert Vista, Thomas can already tell this offense will be even faster paced.
“We’ll get the ball out and on the ball every 15 seconds,” Thomas said.
Thomas can’t wait to get rolling next season. He’ll have help with another talented 2024 player, running back Christian Clark, who’s got the size, power, speed and moves to break out big.
“He make my life a lot easier,” Thomas said. “He’s a monster.”
Clark said he’s excited about the season after last year the Thunder went 5-5 before losing in the first round of the 6A playoffs. In the COVID 2020 season, the Thunder went 0-6.
“We know what we’re capable of,” Clark said. “We’re going to keep on building off of last year. Shock the world.”
When Gill got the Desert Vista job, he brought over his defensive line coach, junior wide receiver Traven Vigenser transferred in from Sierra Linda, because Gill brought Vigenser’s dad with him to be an assistant.
Traven Vigenser, 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, had a huge junior season with 46 catches for 755 yards and eight TDs, complementing All-Arizona wide receiver Stephon Daily (2023), who had more than 1,000 receiving yards.
“The culture was a lot different (at Desert Vista),” Vigenser said. “There was a lot more hype around the football team. A bigger program for sure.”
Discipline is the foundation, on which Gill says he anchors his program.
Goals are always lofty in Ahwatukee for the two big schools, Desert Vista and Mountain Pointe.
Mountain Pointe also is trying to regain the swagger that made it an annual powerhouse under Norris Vaughan. Eric Lauer figures his team will be improved in his third season at the helm after going 1-7 in 2020 and 4-7 last year.
“They’re hungry, they’re excited, they’re eager to compete,” Gill said. ‘We’ll keep building every day. So far in spring ball, we’ve been healthy. We’re stacking good days on top of each other.”
At Desert Vista, or anywhere, Gill, The Republic’s 2021 Football Coach of the Year, isn’t one to boast. But he knows there’s a gold mine waiting to be tapped.
“You could ask me, and we could literally be the Alabama Crimson Tide, and my response is always, ‘Ah, we’ll be OK,’ “Gill said. “That’s just me. But we have lofty expectations. We’ll be a playoff team? Absolutely. That’s the expectation. But we’ll have to earn it every day because we’ll play some good teams.”