High school football: Copper Hills Grizzlies 2009 preview

WEST JORDAN — According to senior linebacker Braxton Magalogo, Copper Hills' football program is a lot different this year than it was last year.

The Grizzlies have a new coach, Kai Kapele, and Magalogo says he's been pushing his players extremely hard from the end of last winter up until right now.

"He's helping us a lot and making us condition," said Magalogo. "That's what we really need. He's making us more like a team . . . I like it a lot because we really need it. Last year we didn't really condition at all. It's been pretty intense, (but) I like it because the coaches are actually on us. They're yelling at us a lot more and are pushing us a lot harder."

Getting more out of his players has been a huge priority for Kapele, who took over Copper Hills' program when Art Erickson resigned after a 4-6 season last fall. A Special Ed. teacher at Copper Hills High the past nine years, Kapele had previously been an assistant coach under coach Mike Smith and then Erickson before leaving football for two years so he could help his wife take care of their new baby.

Accordingly, while Kapele is trying to breathe new life into Copper Hills' program, he knows exactly what he's getting into.

"I've been in the building for about nine years, so I'm familiar with the kids, the community and just kind of the atmosphere and the mentality that these kids have kind of adapted and owned the last few years," said Kapele. "We're trying to change their attitude and get them to believe in themselves. We're focusing on the fundamentals and the basics."

Copper Hills' football program has struggled mightily throughout its existence, but Kapele is trying to instill the same winning attitude and belief that he had as a quarterback at Hawaii's St. Louis High School back in the mid-1980s.

Kapele quarterbacked St. Louis to a state title back in 1986, which was the first of 14 consecutive championships won by the school.

"I've kind of been an old-timer, but 20 years ago when I played, we took ownership," said Kapele. "We fought, we clawed, we did everything we could to make the play, whether I had to sacrifice my body or not.

"I've noticed that the kids here have never done that. 'If I miss that block, it's OK. If I drop this pass, it's OK. If I don't run my route, it's OK. Somebody else will take care of me.' This generation is, 'I deserve it' rather than, 'I'll work for it,' and so we're trying to change that."