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Colorado high school program hires Russell Wilson's QB trainer as its head coach

Wg0vf-nP_400x400by:Keegan Pope•02/12/25•

bykeeganpope

NFL: Seattle Seahawks-Training Camp
Jul 30, 2016; Renton, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jake Heaps (5) and quarterback Russell Wilson (3) and quarterbacks coach Carl Smith watch a drill during training camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off one its best seasons in program history, a Colorado high school football program is making some unique staff moves — including hiring Russell Wilson‘s personal quarterback trainer.

Jake Heaps, the man leading the Legend Titans, doesn’t have any formal coaching experience at the prep level, but is one of the most respected QB gurus in the country. He replaces Monte Thelen, one of the state’s winningest coaches over the past two decades. Thelen led the Titans to a program record 12 wins this fall, a season that included the team’s first-ever state title game appearance.

“You deserve it!” Wilson tweeted about the hire. “For the 10 years I’ve known you & worked with you, you’ve always been one of the best! Keep being you!”

Heaps was one of the nation’s most prolific high school passers during his career at Washington’s Skyline High School. He threw for over 9,100 and 114 touchdowns from 2007-2009. He was rated as the nation’s No. 6 quarterback in the 2010 recruiting class and signed with BYU out of high school.

After two years in Provo where he played in 22 games and threw for more than 3,700 yards, he spent a year each at Kansas and Miami before earning tryouts with a couple NFL and CFL teams. Once his playing career was over, he connected with Wilson while both were on the Seahawks’ preseason roster.

Heaps gets his first head coaching gig

In 2022, he left his as a local radio host to become Wilson’s personal quarterbacks coach and joined him when Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos. Heaps was infamously banned from working with Wilson at the team’s facility by new Denver head coach Sean Payton.

“That’s foreign to me,” Payton said of Heaps working with Wilson at Broncos HQ when he was hired. “That’s not gonna take place here. I’m unfamiliar with it. But our staff will be here, our players will be here, and that’ll be it.”

He continued to train Wilson outside of that though, and works with him now even after he after he departed for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In addition to that, he is the head coach of the Elite 11 — the nation’s premier passing academy for prep QBs — and also trains other quarterbacks privately.

Since his hiring, the Titans have also announced that current Broncos offensive tackle Garrett Bolles will serve as the team’s director of player development in his time outside the NFL schedule.