Gunnison High School has appointed Chase Starman to take over as the head football coach following the departure of Paul Vickers last fall. Starman is a former Western Colorado University wide receiver, and currently teaches elementary PE at the Gunnison Community School.
“Gunnison High School is thrilled to have Chase join the coaching family, bringing his vision, enthusiasm and knowledge to the head football position,” said GHS Athletic Director Kevin Mickelson. “He’s been an assistant coach for a number of years, and will bring a little continuity — and that’s always a good thing when you have a program that’s had success like GHS football has had in recent years.”
This week, Starman will lead the football program through the first week of its summer practice schedule. The Times sat down with Starman to talk about his coaching journey, and his vision for the future of Cowboy football.
(Editor’s note: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)
What originally brought you to Gunnison?
I grew up in Strasburg, Colorado and came to Gunnison in 2017 after being recruited to play receiver at Western. I played from 2017 through 2021 and ended my career after hurting my knee in 2021. My first experience with coaching was student coaching for Western in 2022, and helping out with receivers, and then I fell in love with the coaching process. I started coaching baseball through the rec league during the summer of 2023, and ultimately met all of the current seniors at GHS. So it's been fun seeing them grow up through the years. I'm now an elementary PE teacher, and don't plan on leaving anytime soon.
What lessons did you learn in the Mountaineer Bowl that you hope to bring to GHS?
Hard work and dedication. As a young freshman, I knew I probably wasn't going to play, but I had effort and attitude, and those are two things I could control. You show up every day, you put in the work, you put in the time. You might not feel satisfied in the moment, but it's a time thing. Coaches will take notice of it, and things will start going in your direction. For me at Western, I didn't play until my redshirt freshman year. My only playing time was on special teams, and I remember my first experience playing in a college football game. We played Idaho State, I was on a punt return unit and I lined up against a guy who got NFL invites. I was trying to block him, and he said, ‘I don't care about that ball anymore, I just care about putting you on your butt.’ And he did. He literally threw me on my butt, and I'm like, ‘All right, welcome to college football kid.’ So really, I’d like to create a culture, and get guys that can control their effort, that can control their attitude, and let's take some pride in what cowboy football can be through effort and attitude.
How have coaching roles with GHS prepared you for the head coach position?
My first experience with Gunnison High School was as the C team basketball coach. [Cristian] Aguilar was the head coach, and I got full reign of all the freshmen, and kind of fell in love with creating practice schedules, overseeing everything and managing playing time. Obviously, I didn't know a whole lot at the moment. But I grew a lot as the year went on. I was fiery and rowdy, and have learned how to contain that a little bit, but still embrace that passion and everything too.
Then I started as a wide receivers coach assistant on the football team. That was a great season. The kids were great, the team effort and attitude was all there, and we made the second round of the playoffs.
Vickers named me the offensive coordinator last season, and I was honestly terrified. I had no idea how to call an offense, or how to create an offense. But luckily, I had some support from Cody Mulvin, who played at Western before my time. He stepped in as a run coordinator, and I was more of the pass coordinator — and we kind of fed off each other, developed a new playbook and tried to simplify some things.
During my first game as offensive coordinator, our stud running back, Grady Buckhanan broke his arm on the second play of the game, and then Ethan Pierce, our starting quarterback, broke his ankle. At that point, my confidence as a play caller just went way down. We started the season 0-3, but I still credit the kids' attitude and effort. You could see discouragement, but they kept showing up.
We started this season 0-6 with some hard losses, but finished 3-0 with wins against Pagosa Springs, Bayfield and Salida. I opened up the playbook against Salida and we threw all the trick plays at these guys. On the second play of the game we threw a double pass to score a touchdown. We ended on a high note, and hopefully that can spark this upcoming season.
Practice starts this week, what values or culture do you hope to instill in this program?
There are five factors I hope to build this program on. Competition is one. I believe that this program, at some point, could be one of the top programs in the state, because of the work ethic, the cowboy pride and mentality. The second is discipline. Discipline is the difference between good teams and great teams. If the players can be disciplined and hold each other accountable, then that's the sign of a great program. The third is toughness, which I don't think is hard to find in Gunnison. These kids are tough, they're always undersized, but they're always out-working and out-hitting other teams.
Then just being smart, knowing how and when and why to do something. Not necessarily your Xs and Os, but more so integrity, doing the right thing when nobody is watching. Can these kids be smart in all aspects of life, and take pride in their classroom, their job, their relationships. The final factor is community. Like I said, I want these kids and myself to give back to the community, whether that be through fundraising or just being a highlight that the community can rally behind.
You’re met with a young roster, coming off a tough season last year. What are your goals for your first year as the head coach?
It's not about wins and losses. For me, it's about can these kids leave Gunnison High School better off than they entered it. I want their effort to be there, because I can't coach effort. It comes from within and it comes from being around a group of kids that are going to give effort even when times are hard or even when the cards are stacked against you. If you can embody the five factors of Cowboy football, then you're setting yourself up for great things to happen.
(Alex McCrindle can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or alex@gunnisontimes.com.)
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