Deer Creek High School’s Head Football Coach DeShawn Perkins worked on Derik Bringhurst’s Wasatch staff for the last two seasons, coaching the Wasps’ secondary.
When Perkins found out the new Deer Creek High School was hiring for a head football coach, he decided to throw his hat in the ring. He has been coaching high school football in Utah since 2018 and played college football for Idaho State University and Utah Tech University, then called Dixie State University.
Perkins said he found out he landed the job around Christmas. While he was excited about the new gig, and still is, there was then a mountain of work ahead of him to get the team ready for its inaugural game against Mountain Crest at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The head ball coach had to assemble a staff and roster this past spring, all while continuing to operate out of Wasatch High School. Perkins, his staff and players couldn’t access the new Deer Creek facilities until June 1.
“I’m beyond grateful for it, regardless of whatever rivalry comes out of Deer Creek and Wasatch,” Perkins said. “My coaching staff and I would show up every morning with their coaching staff, and we were just one big football team essentially. … All of our kids were being trained together.”
Perkins and Bringhurst came to an agreement to let players, who had the option to join either team, come to that decision without their help, unless the kid reached out to them. Perkins believes there will be no bad blood between the new rivals, saying he remains respectful of Wasatch, their staff and operations.
Through a mix of experienced players from Wasatch and less experienced players from what will be Deer Creek’s basketball, lacrosse and baseball teams, Perkins assembled his team. He had 58 players ready to suit up this fall, on par with Wasatch’s 57.
Deer Creek and Wasatch will be part of the 4A classification. Wasatch was previously in the larger 5A classification. Park City High School is in 4A.
“I think Wasatch only has three seniors this year,” Perkins said. “I have 17. I was able to get the majority of the upperclassmen who I’ve had great rapport with. … As much as I love having the experienced guys because they make it easy for you, when you get kids into your program that have never played and are really green, it’s awesome because then you can really help mold them and teach them a different side of football that they’ve never experienced or known about.”
Perkins has been trying to make sure his team is having fun and treating them like family, whether that’s making sure they have food, team gear or asking them how their day is going. He hones his interpersonal skills on the field and in the classrooms at Deer Creek, where he teaches special education and honors classes. Perkins and other football coaches have to be able to connect with many players, often with different personalities and using different communication styles.
“I think having that diverse background of teaching and working with students with disabilities all the way to being able to help kids in an honors college 1010 class absolutely gives me that range,” Perkins said. “As well as my diverse background, not growing up in Heber but in the Salt Lake Valley, we’re dealing with different economic circumstances.”
Perkins offers his players different modes to take in his coaching like film study or replicating instructions on the field. He feels his team is taking well to this approach from him and his staff, and that they’re prepared for Friday’s inaugural game.
Perkins is focused on putting forth a strong and clean brand of football in Heber City. Perkins said he’d eventually like to compete for state titles but is more focused on making sure players graduate and go on to be good husbands, fathers and community members in the immediate future.
“Everybody wants to win state titles,” Perkins said. “And don’t get me wrong, we’re going to build our programs as best as we can to get there. But truthfully speaking, my state championship is when these guys graduate.”
Perkins expects strong crowd support for Deer Creek’s home games this season, especially for the Wasatch game on Sept. 4, which falls during Labor Day weekend and Midway’s Swiss Days. He said there was strong family and student body support for the inner-team scrimmage last week.
“Our athletic complex is unbelievable, so on a Friday night it’s the place to be,” Perkins said. “The one thing that I’ve learned being out here is that the Heber Valley is going to show up in support. … I think our receiving core is something that you can look at. We’ve got two really good guys on the outside: Jake Woolstenhulme and Lance Simpson. Guys that can go up, get the ball and make plays.”
For further information about the Deer Creek football team and their complete schedule this season, see their MaxPreps page: maxpreps.com/ut/heber-city/deer-creek-riverhawks/football.