Sherman hopes to have Cheyenne Mountain football marching in step with school's other programs

Cheyenne Mountain has emerged as an athletic power in recent years, with one glaring exception.

While state championships are piling up in sports like tennis, volleyball and cross country, the football team has struggled to rise above mediocrity, routinely winning between four and six of its 10 games.

New coach Brian Sherman hopes to change that.

“We want to say that if we win six or seven games in a season that it is a down year,” said Sherman, who takes over a team that went 8-12 the past two seasons. “The difference between being 5-5 and 8-2 is usually just a handful of plays.”

Sherman has served as offensive coordinator for the past three seasons under Kris Roberts, who had doubled as athletic director and decided to take on less responsibility as he has a growing family at home.

Roberts opened the position to all applicants, and after over 30 possible choices, the school kept the job in the family.

“It will make it easier for the kids because they are familiar with him and they already know his offensive system,” Roberts said.

Sherman plans to keep his spread offense approach and has both short-term and long-term goals for the future of Indian football.

“We have the ability to be a playoff team every season, and coach Roberts has laid a good foundation,” said Sherman, who was previously the head coach at Air Academy for seven seasons. “We want to consistently win nine games a season and compete for league and state championships.”

The word that Roberts and Sherman both use often is “consistency.” The reason that Cheyenne Mountain has had so much success across a broad range of sports is because it has talented athletes each year.

“We want to continue to be competitive on the field, but to also continue doing the right things off the field and be good members of the community,” Roberts said.