[New post] New Huskies coach Daniel Aleman plans to bring championship culture from Eaton to Highland
Bobby Fernandez posted: "Daniel Aleman isn't the type of football coach that constantly asks for credit. Instead, he constantly demands C.R.E.D.I.T. The acronym — which stands for Commitment, Respect, Effort, Discipline, Integrity and Toughness — perfectly describes what Al" Greeley Tribune
Daniel Aleman isn't the type of football coach that constantly asks for credit.
Instead, he constantly demands C.R.E.D.I.T.
The acronym — which stands for Commitment, Respect, Effort, Discipline, Integrity and Toughness — perfectly describes what Aleman plans to bring to the Highland football program.
After spending much of his high school coaching career as an assistant for the three-time defending Class 2A champion Eaton Reds, Aleman is making the move to nearby Ault to assume the head coaching job at Highland.
Aleman interviewed for the vacant head coaching position this past Friday morning, and he was offered the job later that day.
Aleman originally sought the head coaching job at Eaton after Zac Lemon resigned to become the Reds' athletic director.
A longtime friend and assistant coaching colleague of Aleman's, Cameron Stewart, was promoted as Reds' new coach.
But while one door may have shut, another door quickly opened in regards to Aleman's desire to run his own high school program after spending the past years as an assistant — including 11 years in Eaton.
Highland has been a regular 1A 11-man playoff participant the last couple decades.
But the Huskies are looking to return to contention after going 3-6 a year ago and going 6-4, but losing in the first round of the playoffs, in 2021.
Aleman, 51, hopes to building at Highland what he helped build in Eaton: a team that doesn't just hope — but expects — to be firmly in the hunt for league and state championships year after year.
"I think the kids are hungry for a change," Aleman said. "After sitting down with the athletic director and the principal, I was just excited. I got there and just felt like this is a great opportunity. The community needs this. The families need this. And the students need this."
Longtime Eaton High School assistant, Daniel Aleman — second-from-right, alongside former Eaton coach Zac Lemon — recently accepted the head football coaching position with Highland. (Courtesy/Daniel Aleman)
Aleman acknowledged that leaving Eaton certainly wasn't easy.
But what allowed him to make such a difficult decision was the opportunity to grow as a coach and the chance to paint on a proverbial blank canvas.
Just don't expect Aleman to reinvent the wheel with this bold new move.
There's no need to.
He knows, perhaps as well as anyone does, what it took to push Eaton over that hump from perennial playoff competitor to virtually unstoppable championship force.
And to build such a juggernaut in Ault, Aleman and his staff — which he is in the process of completing — plan to emphasize much more than mere "Xs" and "Os".
"The first thing we build is the student first, athlete second," Aleman said. "And the other thing is respect. We've got to learn to respect each other. Not only that, you've got to learn to respect your elders in this building and outside this building."
Longtime Eaton High School assistant, Daniel Aleman — seen here (right) alongside former Eaton coach Zac Lemon — recently accepted the head football coaching position with Highland. (Courtesy/Daniel Aleman)
Over the past decade-plus, Aleman also spent a few years coaching at Resurrection Christian, as well as coaching at the semi-pro level with the Northern Colorado Wolfpack and the Northern Colorado Nightmare.
While Aleman felt sheer excitement the moment he walked through the halls of Highland High School, he has no plans to keep such infectious enthusiasm to himself.
Within the community he is coming from, Eaton, representing the hometown athletic teams is, in many ways, civic duty. Young student-athletes wear their letterman jackets like a badge of pride while walking the town's streets.
Aleman is determined to carry that same culture and mindset just a few miles north along Highway 85.
"I've heard from other coaches at Highland that there are athletes walking around the hall that should be playing football but aren't," Aleman said. "I've got a list from the AD where they ask, 'Are you playing football this year?' and it says, 'yes,' 'yes,' 'yes.' And then says 'maybe,' 'maybe,' 'maybe.' And then it says, 'heck no,' 'heck no,' 'heck no.'
"Those are the kids that I want to reach — those 'maybes' and those 'heck nos.'"
Bobby Fernandez covers high school sports for the Greeley Tribune. Reach him at (970) 392-4478, by email at bfernandez@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @BobbyDFernandez.
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