Rod Dobbs has been named the new head football coach at Chaparral High school, replacing John Vogt who resigned after seven years at the helm.

The former all-state player at Denver's John F. Kennedy High School spent 14 seasons serving as the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Northern Colorado. He played his college ball at UNC and also has been the head coach for Liberty High School in Colorado Springs.

Dobbs has been the offensive coordinator for the Wolverines for the past five seasons, during which time he introduced the same pro-style set he ran at UNC.

“It's very open,” he said of the offense. “I will not be going to the single wing but I try every year to match personnel groups with things that work best in our offense and also defensively. I'm not looking to make a lot of big changes.”

One change he hopes to make is in the win-loss columns. Chaparral went 4-6 last season, but was hit hard by injuries that sidelined players for all or part of the season.

“A lot of good kids rose to the occasion,” recalled Dobbs. “Cole Lehman, our quarterback, was never a quarterback before. Patrick Moody, at linebacker, a freshman, did a fantastic job. Lot of kids just had to step it up on the offensive and defensive side of things.

“Some of those kids were underclassmen and not only that we had to play some kids that we normally would not have put in those positions. We were dictated by the fact that `we need you here now' and `sorry we can't put you over there.' Our kids were willing to do that. We want to put kids in the right positions next season.”

Dobbs is also anxious to put Chaparral back the winning side of the ledger.

“There are a lot of pluses,” he said. “There are a lot of good things and a lot of good kids. There are some things we are going to do differently but at the same time there are a lot of things we are not going to upset … We're looking forward to next season.”