"I fumbled the ball two out of the first three touches I had," Peck said. "He (Dupaix) didn't say a word to me. He'd just pat me on the back and tell me to get the next one."

Besides his steely calm demeanor, Dupaix is also renown among his peers for his ability to alter offensive schemes to accentuate the strengths of his current players. His assistants believe at least some of his effectiveness lies in his ability to collaborate, listen and especially delegate responsibility without second-guessing or micromanaging.

But Dupaix is only the most recent of Skyline's stewards.

"Skyline had the tradition before I got here," Dupaix said. "The tradition, the motivation to do well, all made my job easier."

"H.G. Linford (Skyline's first coach) set the standard," said defensive coordinator Steve Marshall, who won a state championship with the Eagles as a player in 1969. "That's when we began to shave our heads. It showed whether you really wanted to be a Skyline football player. In those days it was an easy way to cut. If you didn't cut your hair, you didn't get a uniform."

Skyline won its first state title in 1967 under Linford. They won again in 1969 and 1970. All of Skyline's current coaches — except Dupaix — graduated from and played for Skyline.

"It's bigger than anything else," Marshall said. "It's not any one person, any coach . . . Skyline is going to be successful with or without me."

Outsiders often see Skyline's football achievements differently, and no discussion of the Eagles' success can ignore constant criticism that it recruits players from outside its boundaries. The coaching staff just shrug and shake their heads when asked about it.

"Some people have felt our success is because we recruit, which never happened in a million years," said Marshall, who lives in Brighton High's boundaries, yet he's sent all four of his children to Skyline. His youngest son is currently the team's quarterback and free safety.

What did happen, Marshall explains, is that in the late 1980s the Jordan School District was bursting at the seams and encouraged its residents to consider sending their children to Skyline rather than overcrowded Brighton and Alta. Students were bused from the Jordan District to Skyline until as recently as three years ago.

"Oh, there is always an issue," said assistant coach and Skyline athletic director Steve Marlowe. "It's never the coaching. It just goes with the territory. As soon as you start to win, they say something like that."

"I know it (recruiting) doesn't happen," said Edie Dupaix, Roger's wife of 34 years. "I just feel like people just have to find a reason for our success. Why can't they just give credit where credit is due? Kids are drawn to a good program, and it's not just to (Dupaix), it's the whole staff."