WEST VALLEY CITY — They were hot, exhausted, and some of them even entertained thoughts of quitting.
But for the first time in a long time, those Granger High football players saw the punishment one takes while conditioning for the season as a sign that their new coach not only cared about them, but he believed in them, too.
"What's different?" asked Elmer Pauni, a senior defensive end and tight end. "Just the coaches, the way they treat us. They treat us like men, not like little kids. They expect a lot out of us."
That raised expectation seems to be at the heart of the Lancers' best start in 12 years. With a dramatic, come-from-behind win over Judge last Friday, the Lancers are now 4-0 under first-year head coach Alex Gerke.
The former Utah player and longtime college coach was hired by Granger to run a strength and conditioning program and work with the linemen.
"The first day I walked in here, there were 18 kids in a supposed football weight-training class," Gerke said of that day in March. "Eighteen. And the class was supposed to have 44. I looked around and said, 'Where are all the players?' "
He was told that's just what he could expect.
"I cruised around, spent countless hours on the phone talking to parents. Two days later, I ended up having 40-some-odd kids in class."
When asked how he sold hard work to teenagers, he laughed.
"You don't sell it," he said. "You say, 'This is what you're going to do.' "
He said once he let the players know that he expected them to attend off-season weight training, he started to see their potential.
"I remember looking at this group," he said, noting the numbers reached into the 50s. "And I just thought to myself, 'You know what? We might be pretty good here.' "
The problem wasn't their desire; it was their lack of direction.
Gerke gave them direction, he gave them expectations, and he never accepted what some people told him about coaching at the West Valley high school.
"It's not different here," he said. "It's what you make it as a coach. It's how you and your assistants want the program to be."
Some coaches might have had reservations about taking over a program just a month before the season officially starts. Not Gerke.
"Absolutely not," he said, noting that he not had a great relationship with the players thanks to the off-season conditioning program, but also brought in assistants who shared his vision. Joe Clausi, Jody Thompson, Joe Gerez, Anthony Jefferies, Chris Shipman and Dustin Pearce, he said, are a large part of the team's success. He also credits principal Jerry Haslam with academic support.
"There are a lot of coaches in this building who want to work and who care about young people," Gerke said. "And they don't just care about sports; they care about how they do in school and in life. It's not just lip service."
Gerke said he's made the program more difficult for a reason.
"To play here is not easy," he said. "It's extremely hard. You have to be very disciplined in what you're doing. We ask a lot of these kids. These guys have all sacrificed things in their lives that they normally haven't done."
The coaches ask the players to push harder than they think they can because that's what will help them succeed once they walk away from football.
"You talk to kids all the time about, 'Hey, life isn't easy,' " he said. "Life is going to throw you a lot of curve balls. … These guys have done a great job of understanding that there is a certain way that things happen. One of our mantras is 'We know.' No matter what has happened up to this point, they know that they're going to find a way. And they truly believe that they're going to find a way."
That is exactly what they did when they earned that come-from behind win against Judge last Friday.
Sione Fonua, a senior offensive guard, said Gerke's system has them playing as a unit instead of many disconnected parts.
"Everyone is listening to the coaches, being disciplined, working hard," he said. "We play as a team and the game is fun."
He knows there are unflattering stereotypes about Granger High, but he and his teammates hope their success — on and off the field — will change those misconceptions.
"I'm proud of it here," Fonua said. "It means a lot to me to change that. It feels great to have all the support. It feels like we're not losers."
When asked about his coach, he offers a shy smile and said when Gerke asked them to do more than they had in years past, the players were actually grateful for the opportunity.
"He more than believes in us," said Fonua. "Our last game he cried because he said we fought back. Last year we would have quit."
Changing what was expected of players away from the field, changed their hopes on the field.
"It was a major culture change for those guys about what needed to be done, and that was from top to bottom," Gerke said.
And the team's success is affecting the atmosphere of the school and community.
"The kids wanted to win," he said. "They were a successful little league team. It makes a huge difference in how things are at the school. Faculty and students are excited because all they've seen is losing, losing, losing. It brings a real positive atmosphere to everything that you're doing."
Siaosi Valele, a senior right guard, said that Gerke also taught them to play 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical.
"I believe in him a lot," said Valele. "He's a really good coach and he's taking us to the next level. … He convinced us to work hard because other teams are working hard. We help each other out and that lifts us all up."
Valele said he wants the community that supports Granger High football to know that "we are starting to raise up to a dream we've wanted to fulfill — to stay undefeated. We really want to change history."
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