5A high school football: Darts coach glad to be following father's footsteps

KAYSVILLE — There was never any doubt what Davis football coach Ryan Bishop was going to do when he grew up.

He wasn't going to be a fireman or a policeman. For as long as he can remember he wanted to be a football coach, just like his dad, Jack Bishop.

"I think if people would have asked me when I was 3-years-old what are you going to be when you grow up — I would have said a football coach," Ryan Bishop said. "That's all I've ever known."

Jack Bishop never pushed Ryan to follow in his footsteps. It was just something his son was already been interested in, and started working toward at a young age.

"I used to always hear him say coaching beats working for a living because I'm doing what I love," Ryan Bishop said. "That kind of stuck with me as a I got older."

Few people have had as much influence on the state's high school football coaches as Jack Bishop. The Southern Utah football coaching tree, which Jack Bishop helped form, has produced dozens of current head coaches, and many more assistants. None of the other coaches have been as influenced by Jack Bishop quite like Ryan.

"I still call him all the time and say what do you think about this or what do you think about that," Ryan Bishop said. "Sometimes he doesn't have anything to say, he just listens. To me, it helps. He's been the biggest influence in my coaching career, hands down."

It's been a highly successful coaching career for Ryan Bishop, who has guided the Darts to their second 5A state championship game in six seasons where Davis will play Bingham on Friday. Bishop, now in his ninth season at Davis, has a 58-43 overall record at the school. He coached the Darts to a 50-43 win over Cottonwood in the 5A championship game in 2004 in one of the best high school football games in state history.

Ryan Bishop started his coaching career at Bear River and had a 25-9 record in three seasons with the Bears. Bishop looks to be following in the footsteps of his father who coached at Cedar High, Wasatch High, Panguitch High and Hurricane High. Local football fans remember Jack Bishop mostly for coaching at Southern Utah University, where he's the school's all-time winningest coach. He is currently working as the athletics director at Central Washington.

Ryan Bishop doesn't run the same veer offense or 50 defense that his father ran. Although he runs different schemes, he runs his program the way his father ran his during his coaching career.