(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Wheat Ridge hired Stacy Coryell as its new football coach earlier this month.
Coryell, a 1978 graduate of the school who also previously served as an assistant for the Farmers, was tabbed as coach on April 1, according to the Wheat Ridge athletics Facebook page.
He replaces Dan Reardon, who left for a job in Ohio after one season at the helm. Prior to Reardon, Reid Kahl was the coach for eight seasons.
Reardon’s team went 6-4 last season and missed Class 4A’s 16-team playoff field.
Wheat Ridge returns two players who threw more than 50 passes last season — quarterbacks Damian Padilla II and Nicco Young — as well as four of its five leading rushers.
The Farmers do need to replace their top offensive player in Jordan Jones, who rushed for 1,366 yards and 21 touchdowns, and also had 571 receiving yards last season.
Coryell has more than 20 years of coaching experience, including time as an assistant at the Colorado School of Mines from 2001-07. He was also an assistant at Wheat Ridge for four seasons in the 1990s, including the 1994 team that won the 4A championship.
During his playing days at Wheat Ridge, Coryell played football, wrestled and ran track. He went on to play football at New Mexico.
Coryell met with parents at the school last week.
Follow all of the movement this offseason in our football coaching changes tracker.