Fountain Hills High School hired a new head football coach at the beginning of June. Sean Moran introduced himself at a parent meeting on Wednesday, June 8, and the Falcons have been in the weight room nearly every weekday for the past two months.

Moran comes most recently from Shadow Ridge High School. He has over 10 years’ experience as a positions coach and offensive coordinator, and Fountain Hills will be his first time taking on the role of head coach.

The Falcons were hyper-focused on the weight room and didn’t start wearing helmets and pads at practices until the last week of July. Moran made it clear in that first parent meeting that he wanted to build a strong weight room culture, and he believes the Falcons will win or lose based on their work in the weight room.

“When I played, we developed a good relationship with each other in the weight room,” Moran said. “Even if you look past being in the weight room and the strength aspect of it, those guys are starting to develop juice and attitude, too.”

Moran entrusts the weight room workout plans to his assistant and high school teammate, Jake Affronti. Affronti has previously worked as a strength and conditioning coach for the Arizona State University football team, and his exercises target the specific body parts that are crucial for each player to excel at their position.

“With the new strength coach, compared to last year, everyone’s intensity went up by so much,” sophomore Sam Barnard said.

Moran wants the Falcons to carry over the physicality they showed in the weight room onto the football field this fall. One area of focus this offseason has been the offensive line, which Moran believes has been a weakness for the team for the past several years.

Moran has worked with the linemen each practice to improve their discipline and help learn more blocking schemes. Junior Nate Barnard and senior Wyatt Mowers play both offensive and defensive line and said they have taken a lot of steps in the right direction and feel they are up to the task to be a more physical unit this year.

“Coach Moran is really good at technique,” Nate Barnard said. “We’re really working on our technique, getting the flow together as an [offensive] line, and getting our steps so we don’t mess up as much as last year.”

Moran has also been impressed with sophomore linemen Vincent Allison and Jackson Montheard. According to Moran, Allison has Division I size and Montheard is a smaller lineman, but both are worth keeping an eye on.

Moran said he has a reputation as a pass-happy coach because one of his teams averaged close to 45 pass attempts per game nearly 10 years ago. The Falcons’ play calling will vary based on the week, but Moran doesn’t think the Falcons will throw it that much. It won’t be for a lack of talent, as Moran likes what he’s seen from several young receivers already.

Quarterback Spencer Nelson will return for his senior season. His top two returning targets are fellow seniors Ryan Dyhrkopp and Diesel Giger, and they combined for 30 receptions, 443 yards and five touchdowns last season.

Sam Barnard had nine catches, 102 yards and one touchdown as a freshman. Moran said it’s hard to put hands on him in practice, and another preseason standout has been junior Gannon Young. Young recovered a fumble for a touchdown on defense last year but did not have a single target as a receiver.

“We have a group of young receivers right now that are going to be really talented kids,” Moran said. “Gannon [Young] is one of them. He’s a natural route runner and he’s getting better every day athletically… If you ever watch Sam get off the ball, you can’t get hands on him. He’s like a little jitterbug out there. He’s technically very sound, and he keeps working hard.”

Senior Casey Osborn caught one touchdown on offense last year, but he also led the Falcons with five interceptions on defense. Osborne will play both sides again this year, as will Diesel Giger. Moran described Giger as a nasty defender and said his play style lives up to his first name.

“In terms of defense, we’re going to bring the pressure this year,” Moran said. “We’re going to play a lot of man coverage, and I don’t care who knows that or sees that, because they’re going to see it in our first scrimmage. They are going to play press man, and our kids are going to try to physically beat them off the line of scrimmage, and we have some really talented kids for that.”

Moran has felt welcomed by administration and community members, especial the Fountain Hills Booster Club. Moran and Affronti had Cain Jagodzinski as a basketball coach and dean of students when they attended Shadow Mountain high school, and they have a good relationship working with him now as a superintendent. Moran has had no trouble getting anyone on the phone, staff or parent, and he’s excited to test his team in a scrimmage at Shadow Mountain on Friday, Aug. 12.

“I’ve had a blast with these guys so far,” Moran said. “The buy-in from the town, the parents, the players and the administration has been, ‘what do we have to do to win?’”