Casa Grande hires Denis Brunk as football coach

When Casa Grande High School dismissed varsity football coach Trent Herzog in late January, many students and parents were outraged. The school is hoping the arrival of Herzog's replacement will be less contentious.

Casa Grande has hired Denis Brunk, 51, who spent the previous two seasons as head coach at Santa Rosa High.

“I do think it will be a challenge. Because Trent was loved,” Brunk said. “Let's give Trent credit. He's a good coach, he knows the game and he's well loved. But it's good to remind myself: We're there for who? For the kids. My focus and the focus of the staff we hire, it's all about the kids.”

The Gauchos have been stuck in a bit of a rut since going undefeated in the North Bay League and 13-1 overall in 2013. In the three seasons since, they were 15-21 overall and a middling 11-10 in league play.

But it's a program with a rich tradition and a relatively deep pool of athletes from which to draw.

Brunk believes he has much to build on.

He certainly made an impact at Santa Rosa.

The Panthers were 1-9 the year before he was hired, and 2-8 in his first campaign at the school. But last year Santa Rosa improved to 6-6, its best record in nine years, and earned a rare playoff victory. The Panthers averaged 36.3 points and more than 400 yards per game in Brunk's offensive system. Quarterback Isaiah Steele threw for 2,966 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Most important, in the coach's eyes, he and his staff were able to improve the atmosphere at Santa Rosa, on the field and in the classroom. Brunk says GPAs within the football program climbed in his two years there.

A press release distributed by Casa Grande High School on Wednesday read: “Denis Brunk believes that student-athletes are students first, and he places considerable emphasis on players' academic success. At Santa Rosa, he ensured that all players maintained scholastic eligibility, and for the first time in 15 years every football player during the 2016 season was eligible to play.”

At Santa Rosa, Brunk initiated a tradition he called “pods” or “tribes,” in which the team would break up into smaller clusters after practice and talk about life issues like school or family.

“I feel like we accomplished a football community that had been missing at Santa Rosa for a long time,” Brunk said. “The academic strides. We all get caught up in the Ws and the losses. But the important piece of why we do what we do is to mentor young men and get them to contribute to society. That's the roots I think we planted as a staff.”

Brunk grew up in South Carolina and Point Reyes but cut his football teeth at Glenwood Springs High School in Colorado, where he was offensive coordinator from 2005 to 2012.

It was a stint that included a Division 3A state championship in 2008. Brunk briefly took over the team at one point when head coach Rocky Whitworth was injured in an accident, and helped the older coach with many administrative duties after Whitworth returned.

Brunk moved back to Northern California in 2013 when his wife, a nurse-practitioner, was offered a job at St. Helena Hospital in Deer Park. The couple lived in the hills between Calistoga and Middletown, and Brunk coordinated the Lower Lake offense for two years under head coach Justin Gaddy.

The Santa Rosa job opened up in 2015.

Brunk, who heads the sales department for a Bay Area company that develops laundromats, lives in Petaluma and has a 13-year-old son. His wife, who has a doctorate in nursing, now teaches at Sonoma State and UC San Francisco.

“I'm gonna miss Santa Rosa, and I'll miss the kids a whole lot, but I think this was best for my family,” Brunk said.

The hiring process apparently moved swiftly. Brunk said he interviewed with Casa Grande administrators on Tuesday and was hired Wednesday.

That day, he called about 20 returning Santa Rosa football players into the campus weight room and informed them he was leaving.

“It was sad. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it,” Brunk said.

The new coach plans to meet with Casa players Friday. He understands they might have some difficult questions for him.

“It will be an open forum,” Brunk said. “I'll let the kids express their feelings and ask questions. I will answer any concerns they have.”

As of Thursday, Brunk had not hired any assistant coaches, but he thinks he can have some in place by Monday.

Herzog's dismissal remains controversial in Petaluma. Casa Grande never provided a reason for the move, saying only that the decision came by mutual agreement between the school and the coach.

Herzog coached at Casa for 26 years, including the past eight as head coach.

You can reach staff writer Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.