New Era For Herder Football: Longtime coach Hayes takes over struggling football program

It’s been exactly a decade since the Glenrock High School football program has seen a winning season. With bigger classes moving up and a talented junior high teams, the potential to change course might be right around the corner and the district has found their next letter to tackle the job. Longtime Wyoming high school educator and coach Heath Hayes was been hired to replace Zane Perez. Hayes, who has served as GHS head track coach and junior high wrestling coach, was recommended by Activities Director Jim Sarvey and the school approved the hiring at its February meeting.

“Hayes brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will be invaluable to our student athletes. Beyond his technical coaching ability, coach Hayes excels as a recruiter, helping athletes recognize their potential and inspiring them to strive for excellence. His ability to connect with students and guide them toward growth—both on and off the field—sets him apart as a mentor and leader,” Sarvey said in his recommendation. 

“Coach Hayes provides stability and unwavering commitment to our program, fostering a culture of discipline, hard work and accountability. His dedication to developing student-athletes makes him an ideal selection for our football program.”

With more than 25 years of football experience and a career of working with youth, Hayes welcomes the challenge to develop the next era of athletes and build a winning tradition in a program struggling for participation. The varsity will graduate just three seniors from this year’s 0-9 team.

“This place has some great history. Coming to a place that guys such as Art Hill, Mick Lehner, Ray Kumpula and Neil Waring have been is a tremendous honor. Also, knowing many of the assistant coaches that have been here like Tony Lehner, Bill Ponitowski, Donnie Stewart is just ‘WOW.’ Some excellent coaches and even better people,” Hayes exclaimed. 

“My expectations are that we get back to learning the fundamentals of football rather than focusing so much on X’ & O’s.  When people look at Herder football I want them to say that the kids play the game the right way - with respect to officials and opponents. Creating a ‘culture’ through building a positive self-image and getting rid of negativity and a negative mindset.  We will have high and  realistic expectations. The focus will be the next rep, next play, next game.”

Glenrock was once one of the top programs in 2A. Its last winning seasons were from 2015-18 when former coach Ray Kumpula led the Herders to a combined 33-9 record and reached the State championship game in 2015. GHS last won a 2A title in 2008 to a perfect 11-0 season. 

The struggles have consumed the program in recent years, partly because the number of athletes during up and evaporated. Perez was at the helm the last two years and GHS went without a win and a combined 0-16 record.

About Hayes

The new Captain of Herder football is a Wyoming boy, born and raised in the Thermopolis. As he said, “my blood has a lot of purple in it,” referencing the school colors of THS and Glenrock.

“I started coaching in Thermopolis. Moved to Spearfish where I was the wide receivers coach at Black Hills State University,” he said of the start of his successful coaching career. “After two seasons, I started coaching in Sundance (football/wrestling), then accepted the head football job in Saratoga while also coaching junior high wrestling and high school track as an assistant coach.

Hayes and his wife relocated to Converse County in 2010 and have lived in Douglas since.

“As soon as I knew we were moving to Douglas, I contacted (former head coach current activities director) Jay Rhoades. I would watch film and attend games until our family got moved,” said Hayes, who taught in-school suspension. 

Hayes enjoyed lots of success at Douglas where he was part of a coaching staff that built constant winners thrived with nonstop winning seasons and plenty of core memories.

“We had some heartbreaking losses in three State championship games and won one. A fun memory was playing the Cheyenne East JV.  We were down and got a turnover with only about 30 seconds left in the game.  We had run a play several times and the safety ran to the line of scrimmage hard. I told the quarterback to pump fake, the receiver had to show his hands then turn up field,” Hayes explained. “When thrown to the wide open receiver, it felt like the ball may never come down but eventually fell into his hands. We won the game beating a big program and opponent. We had some good teams and the athletes were very competitive. I can only think of maybe five that were not three-sport athletes the entire time being there.”

Since then, Hayes had coached for Kelly Walsh and currently going on seven years at GJSHS where he teaches Outdoor Education with hunters safety being top priority. He will continue his role as head track coach at the high school but has stepped away from junior high wrestling, a position Sarvey is working on filling.

The future is now

With track season in full swing, Hayes is a busy guy but work on the upcoming football season is underway with the biggest struggle the program faces - interest and participation. The campus is filled with hard-working students athletes and Hayes described the No. 1 job he faces first in just one word.

“Recruiting. Everyone from every roster is a candidate to be a football player. There is a spot for everyone on a football team,” he said. “My upbringing was around athletics, and I love competing and hate losing. Kids should never choose to not play because of a coach. Play because you’re not scared to compete and represent the school, community and their family.”

The new-look Herders will start from the beginning and build a foundation by teaching the basics which will allow the rest to follow in place through knowledge and techniques.

“We will spend a lot of time on all three phases of the game -  offense, defense, special teams. We will use a multiple offense, bring pressure when we can on defense and hope to make things exciting with special teams. Fans will see the kids pick each other up after a mistake and we will celebrate every person’s successes,” Hayes said. “This will start up front with a big focus on the offensive line working as five knuckles on our hands. They have to do everything together to make a strong fist.

Hayes knows the job ahead will be a tough one but he also knows the talent on  campus is there to snap the football program’s 24-game losing streak. The last GHS win on the gridiron was Sept. 22, 2022 in a 36-6 home victory over Kemmerer.

When the Friday night lights shine bright again this September, the Herders will be hungry to bring back the winning ways the community has patiently awaited.

“We’re going to compete hard and build a team that respects the game. The community will be proud of the way our kids play the game. There have been some great athletes and football players go through while unfortunately not having success.  Some of this is due to numbers.  We can’t only have three Seniors.  We need 10, 12, 14 kids per grade level. There are some really good classes here and more coming,” Hayes said. “I won’t promise a trip to Laramie (State) but certainly wouldn’t turn it down; however we are going to gain respect for ourselves, get the community support rolling and have some fun. We will work hard to do everything the right way and in the end we hope to #WinTheDay!”