Ex-coach’s departure “surprise,” amicable
McCaffrey plans to stay at Valor Christian for long term
Valor Christian officially introduced Ed McCaffrey as its new football coach on Tuesday in Highlands Ranch, where the former Broncos star cited the “transformative nature of the game” in his decision to accept the job.
McCaffrey’s introduction also shed some light on the departure of former coach Rod Sherman, who resigned from his position Dec. 22.
“The timing is perfect, because first of all, I never even thought this opportunity would be available,” McCaffrey said. “(Sherman’s exit) took me by surprise, and I think it took a lot of people by surprise.”
McCaffrey, who has been a public face of the program for a decade, said he initially didn’t see himself as available for the job because of travel demands to watch his three oldest sons play.
Max is a wideout for the San Francisco 49ers, Christian a running back for the Carolina Panthers and Dylan a quarterback at the University of Michigan. Luke, the last of the four sons to star at the school, is expected to be the Eagles’ starting quarterback as a senior this fall.
“I suggested to (school president) Kurt Unruh and some of the other members of the football community that we should put a committee together to figure out who the head coach was,” McCaffrey said. “And then I slept on it for a day and said: ‘Wait a minute. Why am I not applying for the position?’ ”
McCaffrey said he plans to coach at Valor Christian for “as long as they’ll have me.” He beat out another former NFL player, John Howell, for a vacancy that Valor Christian athletic director Jamie Heiner said was not created by parent or school pressure on Sherman to step down.
Heiner also said the departure of Sherman, who was 57-11 in five seasons with three Class 5A titles, was amicable.
“I know (Sherman’s) been interviewing at different places,” Heiner said. “We’ve been staying in touch via email and text, and I’ve called as a reference for him for a couple jobs.”
Meanwhile, junior running back Joshia Davis and junior linebacker Ethan Zemla said that they were also surprised by Sherman’s departure but added they weren’t sure of the circumstances surrounding it.
“It was weird, because we all had meetings with him before winter break, and then he was just gone,” Davis said.
But they also both are looking forward to playing under McCaffrey and believe he’s the right coach to help re-elevate the Eagles back to the top of the Colorado prep football world after Valor Christian’s upset loss in the quarterfinals to Grandview last year.
“There’s always the pressure on Valor Christian, because we’re always expected to play in the championship,” said Davis, a CU commitment. “If you notice, when we did lose, everybody was very surprised by it. So we’ve got to play with a chip on our shoulder, and we can’t overlook anyone.”