Brigg Hoopes, the new boys wrestling coach at Star Valley High School, called into First Bank of Wyoming Sports Friday to discuss taking over the program and replacing long-time coach Eddie Clark.

(0:00) Who can doubt with you in studio this morning, joining us live over the phone is Brig Hoops, (0:04) the new wrestling coach at Star Valley High School. (0:08) Brig, thank you for your time, want to give you a chance to reintroduce yourself to our (0:12) listeners here in Lincoln County. (0:14) People are always asking, well, who’s his parents? (0:16) Of course, the Hoops name and Star Valley Wrestling goes back a long, long time.

(0:21) So tell us your connection to Star Valley High School Wrestling. (0:25) Yeah, I really appreciate you guys having me on. (0:29) I’m stoked to be here.

(0:30) I’m stoked to be back in Star Valley. (0:33) I love the people there and I love the place. (0:36) I am Bill Hoops is my grandpa.

(0:40) So Bill and Karen were my grandparents. (0:42) And my dad is Jason Hoops. (0:45) So the story is that, you know, that I’ve been told is that my grandpa actually wrestled (0:51) one of the very first matches in a Star Valley wrestling single ever.

(0:56) I think it was the first match. (0:57) So our, you know, our bloodline and Star Valley Wrestling goes really deep. (1:02) So I’m super excited to be back.

(1:04) You know, Brig, this program obviously has a storied history, but, you know, there’s (1:10) an old saying, you don’t want to step into the shoes of a legend. (1:14) And that’s exactly the task that’s been handed to you with Coach Clark after 27 (1:18) seasons running the program and putting up the level of success that he has. (1:24) Talk about his influence on what you’ve wanted to do.

(1:27) And now as a coach and, and kind of trying to carry that on. (1:31) Yeah. (1:32) You know, Coach Clark has, um, obviously done an amazing job.

(1:38) I don’t, I don’t know of a coach that has a record of winning like (1:42) he does in, in any high school. (1:44) Um, I think it would be really, really hard to find somebody who’s (1:47) had the success that he’s had. (1:49) And I, I just happened to really love Coach Clark.

(1:52) We, uh, you know, from the time I was, I was little to high school. (1:56) We have had a great relationship and obviously he was a massive part in me (2:02) going on to college to wrestle. (2:04) And, uh, you know, actually me choosing to coach wrestling.

(2:07) I, I, I don’t even know if he remembers this, but I remember (2:10) having a conversation with him. (2:12) Um, and him telling me like, Brig, you would be, you would be a (2:16) great teacher and a great coach. (2:18) Like, and I wasn’t thinking about it at all at the time.

(2:21) Um, so he saw that in me. (2:22) So one thing I just love about coach Clark is he has had massive belief in me. (2:28) He has massive belief in a system that’s proven to work.

(2:31) And I’m just really excited to continue what he’s done. (2:34) I think it will be a real benefit to, you know, have someone in the, in the (2:41) program that understands how it’s been run for a really long time (2:44) and who appreciates that as well. (2:47) Well, and, and he was exactly right because as our, our listeners may (2:50) know, you did go on to coach.

(2:51) This isn’t your first, uh, coaching gig by any stretch. (2:54) Uh, remind us what you did after high school collegiately and what led you (2:58) eventually to become the coach at Southern Virginia university and, and put (3:02) some time on the college mats as a coach. (3:04) Yeah, I, um, so I, I went on my church mission right after high school.

(3:09) Um, I, I came back and, uh, my older brother Austin was wrestling (3:14) at Penn state at the time. (3:15) So I decided to go out and live with him. (3:16) Um, for just under a year, I was able to train with, uh, you know, the Nittany (3:22) line wrestling club at Penn state.

(3:24) And, uh, I think most people know, but they’re easily the best (3:27) college program in the country. (3:28) So, um, just to be able to train with them for a little bit and learn from (3:32) them was, you know, super invaluable for me and it’s, uh, you know, guided a, (3:37) a huge part in how I run my wrestling room. (3:40) Um, I, and then, so right after that, I, uh, I went to Utah Valley.

(3:45) I wanted to be a little closer to home. (3:46) I actually was a walk-on initially at Utah Valley, uh, trained really hard, (3:51) showed up every day and, um, you know, I ended up wrestling well, so they, (3:55) they scholarship me and I, I was there for a few years and, um, I had great (3:59) coaches there too, uh, Greg Williams, uh, Luke Ethan loft house or keen, um, (4:06) just really high level wrestlers who, um, put a lot of time into (4:10) me and helping me, uh, be successful. (4:12) I had another coach, uh, his name’s will row.

(4:15) Um, he was a wrestler for Oklahoma and he, I felt like he just invested in me (4:20) as a person and invested me as a wrestler and, um, I got way better because of it. (4:25) So as a, you know, as I was getting to that point of graduating or taking a (4:30) fifth, I think, yeah, fifth year of eligibility, I decided that, uh, you (4:36) know, as for you kind of called me out of the blue, um, and I decided to take (4:40) the job because I felt like it would keep me in wrestling as long as possible. (4:45) Um, so I’ve, I’ve been coaching at Southern Virginia university.

(4:47) It’s a division three school in Virginia. (4:50) So bring, as you come back for this job, obviously a strong pull for this (4:57) particular job to pull you away from Southern Virginia, what are, what are (5:00) some philosophical things you want to your program to be known for moving forward? (5:07) What are some things that people can expect? (5:11) Yeah. (5:11) So, so from what I’ve seen in, you know, in all the best wrestling rooms I’ve been (5:16) in, um, as far as philosophy goes, I think it starts with, uh, the culture of the (5:21) team, um, and a big part of the culture starts with, you know, a lot of it has (5:26) to do with the kids you have, but a lot of it has to do with, um, what you as (5:31) a coach, uh, put out, uh, to the team.

(5:35) Um, so one of my, one of my big philosophies is, um, I think the leaders (5:41) of the team should be, uh, the servers of the team. (5:45) So I want my old, my older guys taking care of my younger guys, mentoring (5:49) them, uh, helping them get better. (5:52) Um, because if we can build up those young guys, um, and they feel like (5:55) those old guys love them and we’ll take care of them, we’re going (5:58) to have a really unified team.

(6:00) So I think the number one is culture. (6:02) A culture of, um, everybody is in the room. (6:05) We’re getting better.

(6:06) Our, our leaders are taking care of our freshmen and our (6:09) sophomores, our younger kids. (6:11) Um, I think that to me is probably the most important piece after that. (6:16) Um, obviously we, uh, you know, philosophy wise, we have to love wrestling.

(6:24) Um, wrestling is a game just like football is a game or (6:27) basketball or baseball is a game. (6:29) Uh, and sometimes we lose sight of that. (6:31) And if we can focus on loving the game, loving the game that we play, uh, that (6:37) we do, um, we’re going to be really successful.

(6:40) Um, and then of course, sticking to the fundamentals, learning all the (6:44) fundamentals and getting them down perfectly, uh, I think we’ll have a lot (6:47) of success speaking with brick hoops this morning on first bank of Wyoming (6:50) sports, Friday star Valley high school wrestling coach, uh, brig. (6:54) You’ve spent, uh, quite a few years in the collegiate wrestling room now, (6:59) both as a wrestler and as a coach going back to high school, what do you (7:02) anticipate being a little different between college and high school coaching? (7:06) And, and what do you feel like might be the same? (7:10) Yeah, I think the, probably the biggest difference will be your, in high school, (7:15) you have kids who have never wrestled or who have little experience, and then (7:20) you have kids who’ve been wrestling since they were three or four years old. (7:24) So you just have a vast difference of skill level.

(7:27) Um, and of course there’s, there’s a lot more working with the parents, (7:31) working with, uh, uh, different people. (7:34) You know, I work with administrators now, but it’s different. (7:37) Um, but I, I actually think that would be a really great thing.

(7:40) The really awesome thing about a division three athletics program is (7:43) we have really high level athletes. (7:46) We also have athletes who were just barely starting to get it and to (7:50) understand, and we develop them through division three, um, to (7:55) get them to those, you know, those top spots. (7:57) Um, so I think, I think there’s a lot of similarities there.

(7:59) I think the biggest difference will be I’m working probably with a larger (8:03) group of, of, uh, kids, um, and a larger, a larger difference in skill level. (8:10) Um, but I’m excited for that. (8:11) I think it’ll be a lot of fun and I love to see, I love to see the guys develop.

(8:16) So I think that’ll be a ton of fun. (8:18) Uh, obviously not just, uh, going to survive on a wrestling coaches, uh, (8:22) salary brig, uh, you got a position with LCSD to, to be a PE teacher and, and (8:28) bringing a young family with you, introduce us a little bit to your family (8:31) and, and what some of your other responsibilities are going to be. (8:35) Yeah.

(8:36) So I, uh, I took a position as a PE teacher, uh, PE and health (8:40) teacher at the high school. (8:41) So I’m excited to be in the high school, to be able to be around my guys and, (8:44) uh, be around a bunch of different students. (8:46) I think it’ll be a really good experience for my family.

(8:50) Um, I’m married. (8:51) I, uh, we’ve been married for, uh, six years. (8:54) My wife’s name is Ashlyn.

(8:56) She comes from, uh, Jewab, uh, or Nephi, Utah Jewab high school. (9:02) Um, they happen to have a really great wrestling program. (9:05) Her dad was a, her dad was a state champ for them.

(9:08) Um, so wrestling is, you know, she was the one who went, went to all (9:12) the wrestling matches with her dad. (9:14) Um, so she loves wrestling, so she’ll be super invested. (9:17) Um, and she’s just, just an awesome person to be around.

(9:20) The Valley will love her. (9:22) Um, and then we have a two-year-old son whose name is Brooks. (9:25) Um, he’s starting to love wrestling already.

(9:27) He wants to wrestle me. (9:29) He wants to wrestle his mom. (9:30) And, and then we have a five-month-old, uh, baby girl, Stevie.

(9:35) Um, her, her name is actually Stevie Karen, uh, named after her grandma (9:39) Karen or her great grandma Karen. (9:41) Um, so we’re, we’re just excited. (9:44) Uh, my family’s really excited to be back in the Valley.

(9:46) Um, so I appreciate that. (9:49) Well, Brigg, we appreciate your time. (9:51) Congratulations.

(9:51) Looking forward to having you and your family back in star Valley’s you mentioned. (9:55) And, you know, just one final question as we wrap it up that you mentioned (9:58) culture inside the wrestling room and man, you are very familiar with the (10:03) wrestling culture outside of the wrestling here in star Valley and how rich and (10:07) traditional it is, of course, with your grandpa and your dad, and you know, of (10:11) course your daddy, he’s been a wrestling announcer on SVI for a handful of years. (10:15) And I don’t know anybody that gets more excited about wrestling (10:18) than, than Jason hoops.

(10:19) Right. (10:20) And so what, how big is it to have that culture in the community and, and that (10:26) intertwined family relationship culture in a program like, like what star Valley has? (10:32) Yeah, I, I think that’s one of the biggest pieces. (10:34) Um, there’s a, you know, coach Clark has done a great job and, um, the community (10:40) has done a great job at supporting wrestling and making wrestling an event (10:45) that people want to go to and people want to support.

(10:47) So I, uh, the community involvement, uh, is huge. (10:52) Um, the culture of wrestling star Valley is huge. (10:54) So we’re going to do the best we can honor that.

(10:56) I’m just excited to be in a place that loves wrestling. (10:59) Um, it’s, it makes all the difference in the world and we’re going to do some (11:03) really, really great things in the years to come. (11:06) Um, so I’m really, really excited to be in, in that culture and we’re (11:09) going to get everybody involved.

(11:10) Uh, we’re going to get everyone involved really, really soon here (11:13) in the wrestling program to make it really exciting and really fun. (11:16) That’s breakups. (11:17) Talk about a high school wrestling.

(11:18) It’s all part of first bank of Wyoming sports Friday break. (11:21) Thank you so much for your time. (11:22) Looking forward to seeing you soon.

(11:24) Thanks to all part of the weekday wake up on SVI radio.