Eight different coaches applied for the Mountain Crest football coaching job two years ago, but one answer separated Mark Wootton from all the other candidates.
During the interview process, Wootton was asked to use one word to describe his coaching style. He said "loving."
"You wouldn't expect a football coach to use the word 'loving,' but that's exactly right," said Mountain Crest assistant football coach and wrestling coach Davey Swenson. "These kids love coach Wootton and coach Wootton loves these kids. It's genuine."
Call it unity or call it love, but everyone associated with Mountain Crest agrees, Wootton's presence helped the Mustangs capture the 4A championship with a 16-13 victory over Highland at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Friday.
"I know if he wasn't here, we wouldn't have won it," said Mustang linebacker Phillip Rutledge.
After a 1-9 season in 2003, Mountain Crest coach Art Erickson was fired. At the time, Wootton had just finished his 13th season as head coach at North Sanpete High School, and he knew the Mountain Crest job was perfect for him.
Not only was his wife from Hyrum, but Mountain Crest was traditionally a great program. After all, the Mustangs won state championships in 1987 and 2001. Plus, Wootton was quite familiar with the program because his nephew, Cameron Webb, played for Mountain Crest.
"These kids have always been successful, and I just assumed we could turn the program around pretty quick," said Wootton. "When they were willing to make a commitment to the weight room and things like that, things really took off for us."
That commitment was reciprocal.
Rutledge said he and his teammates were excited to lift weights for a coach who made the three-hour drive from Mount Pleasant to Hyrum nearly every weekend.
"He brought a totally different mentality," said Rutledge. "I've never met a coach like him. He's just like one of us."
That lifting paid off last year as Mountain Crest finished with a 6-5 record and a share of the Region 4 championship. It didn't hurt, either, that Wootton's son, Brady, was a junior running back on that team and finished with 803 rushing yards.
"To be honest, a lot of these kids played as sophomores, so I inherited a lot of kids that had a lot of varsity experience," said Wootton. "Art Erickson had done a really good job preparing them."
Fifteen of those starters returned again this year, and things paid off handsomely for the Mustangs as a result.
One of those starters this year was Brady, who finished with 1,591 rushing yards and 24 total touchdowns. Just imagine how good North Sanpete might've been in 3A this year with the Wootton father-son combo helping out.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com