Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

Jason Wilke brought the perspective of more than a decade as a head coach in the West Valley when he joined Willow Canyon coach Justin Stangler’s staff in May.

Then the former Tolleson head coach — and Valley Vista and Glendale coach prior to that — helped the Wildcats fill their elusive defensive coordinator position.

Dennis Rekedal, linebackers coach for Wilke at Tolleson, arrived just after the school year ended. He was Stangler’s third hire for that role in this calendar year.

“He’s very meticulous and he keeps things simple. He’s high energy,” Stangler said. “He was in right after spring ball. Our spring ball had an emphasis on offense, basically getting ready for 7-on-7. It worked out pretty good. We’re modifying what we’re doing after we sat down as a staff.”

The Wildcats hired well-traveled veteran Anthony Paterno away from Deer Valley early in the spring, only to see Paterno accept the same role on new Phoenix Brophy Prep coach Jason Jewell’s staff a couple weeks later.

Stangler then thought he had landed Randy Bandelow, a former Kellis assistant most recently the outside linebackers coach at the University of Mary in North Dakota. But it was not long before Bandelow was offered and accepted the linebackers coaching job at Carroll College in Montana.

In all, four new assistants are on the staff. Grant Parham is the new coach of the secondary and William Wilkinson coaches receivers.

Stangler said he is trying to wean himself off roles as defensive line and special teams coach, partly through the experience and advice of offensive coordinator James Carter, who ran the defense early in his six-year tenure as Sunrise Mountain head coach.

“You can get spread pretty thin. And Carter told me you can’t do too much. The first year I was doing defensive line because we had a part time d-line guy. I was basically coaching d-line and special teams. It’s a lot. You get pulled away if this happens or that happens,” Stangler said. “I’m working on passing on special teams, to be in the background but to give somebody else some ownership.”

He still helps with the defensive line, though he said his responsibilities seem less so far this offseason.

After the first year, Stangler said the staff was honest about what was and was not working from its 2018 approach.

Parham is not a former head coach, but has been on the staff of nationally known programs.

“Our defensive backs coach, Grant Parham, who’s been at Bishop Gorman and Scottsdale Saguaro, is coming over and his son will be playing here. He’s a sophomore going to He’s coming over from Kellis so he will have to sit his five games,” Stangler said.

Both Wilke and Parham will teach on campus.

“Coach Wilke will be our academy coach. He’ll be working with all the sports as far as lifting and strength,” Stangler said. “We’re going to have five of our coaches on campus which is nice.”

Senior quarterback Josh Ormond said Wilke has improved the weight room approach.

His knowledge also can fast-track the growth of an offensive line that lost four starters and will rely on younger players.

“Since Coach Wilke came in I’ve already seen giant progress in the o-line. He’s also helping in the weight room. I’ve noticed a marked difference in the whole weight room. It’s a lot faster paced this year. We’re on the horse and ready to go,” Ormond said.

Stangler said the line is getting up to speed and learning what it takes to be a varsity player.

“It’s invaluable to have a former head coach, and he’s a line guy. We’re young. We have a lot of potential but we’re young and he’s working great with the kids. He’s holding them accountable and they’re in a bit of a culture shock. There’s a lot of kids that are going to be sophomores with him, but they’re getting it. They’re buying in,” Stangler said.