Jeff Giger: Taking Colorado Football By Storm
December 14, 2021
With the Tigers coming off an extraordinary football season, settling with a 13-1 record and getting the opportunity to compete for a state title at Mile High Stadium, they really made a name for themselves in Colorado football. Although the squad possessed many hidden gems of athletes this season, a lot of the success can be attributed to the new head coach Jeff Giger.
Giger grew up in Gibbon, Nebraska, and attended Gibbon High School. While he grew up playing football his entire life, Giger also participated in baseball and wrestling. However, when the start of his freshman year of high school approached he soon dropped baseball and wrestling to focus solely on his love for football. “I think everything about [football] is just a team concept. I think so much of life is worked into football, like the team concept of dedication and drive. Everything that it takes to be good at football [are] things that you have to know as you grow up.” — Jeff Giger
In May of 1990, right out of highschool Giger made the decision to join the Army, which was followed by seven years of active duty. Giger explains that even though it was a difficult choice at first it became a blessing down the road, “… at that point in my life it was probably what I needed to do. I wasn’t the best student in high school and I kind of needed somebody to kick me in the rear to get me going in the right direction with my life.”
After his 7 years of duty serving for the U.S. Army, Giger took his next step in life and enrolled at New Mexico State University. Though he did not compete for any sports while attending New Mexico State University. “My participation in the army really taught me what I needed in life and set my goals straight. So although I didn’t play any sports in college, I still learned a lot that I could later use in my life,” Giger states.
After graduating from New Mexico State University in 2000 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and Coaching, Giger went on to coach high school football at Las Cruces High School in Las Cruces New Mexico. During the three years he taught and coached there, they made a state championship game appearance in 2002. In 2006 Giger made his way north and soon landed himself a head coach position for Strasburg High School in Strasburg, Colorado. Giger was the head coach of the Indians for 13 years, which to no surprise racked up many achievements along the way. “While at Strasburg, we won 1A state in 2016 and 2017 and we were runner up in 2018,” Giger says, “with that I received Coach of the Year in 2017 and League Coach of the Year in 2016.”
In 2019 Giger made the switch to Brighton High School to continue his legacy. Though he did not secure a state title during his two seasons with the Bulldogs, he led them on back-to-back winning seasons.
When the head coach position opened up at Erie in early 2021, Giger jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the squad. “Though there were a lot of factors that went into my decision to switch, what I’ve known about the Tigers from playing against them, to watching them beat good teams, and just knowing that the district has always been very supportive of athletics, I knew it was the right time,” Giger explains, “ with how the athletics at Erie are so important to the school and the surrounding area, it was just something that I’ve been really wanting to be a part of.”
The Erie football squad has continued to bring in many star athletes over the years and continues to impress the surrounding community. However, with Coach Giger stepping in to fill the role, the expectations were set high for the Tigers. With a 13 game winning streak, which sent them to a state title game on December 4th, all those expectations were exceeded. Giger explains that, “Success in my opinion would have been us just learning how to play together and buying into a common goal. And I think they did that, and obviously I think [they] exceeded probably most of our expectations as well as everyone else’s.”
Like Giger, the boys who shared the same love of the game as he did really bought into his ideas and brought his ideas to life. Senior John Pastore explains, “Coach Giger brought in a theme of uncommon unity and it is crazy to think how our team in such a short amount of time banded together,” He also says,“We really learned the concept of playing as one, and playing for one another, which I think really helped us get as far as we did.” Senior Gauge Nichols adds, “Giger advocated for the whole team to do the right thing both on and off the field while also building a coaching staff with similar mindsets.”
Both Pastore and Nichols were huge parts to making this season a success. Both players had their doubts in the beginning regarding a new coach stepping in their senior year, but quickly they caught onto how valuable he is as a coach. “He pushed you in ways you wouldn’t think of, whether that be making you run your sprints full speed or taking a walkthrough more serious than a normal everyday practice. He will push you in the film room as well as on the field to know your opponent and get better overall.” Pastore says.
With all the triumph the Tigers faced this season it is important to note that with Giger and his staff he built behind him, what the football squad did this year is certainly one for the books. Though the season did not end the way people were expecting, the program still received an overwhelming amount of congratulations and praise for what they did accomplish. “Without the knowledge of Coach Giger, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what we did this season. Yes we had some incredibly talented players and large aspirations for the season, but without him those dreams wouldn’t have been possible,” Nichols states.
After an exciting season filled with memories and broken records, it is apparent that the work of Coach Giger and his staff will not go unnoticed in the community. With the hope that Coach Giger will be around for seasons to come, the future for the program is brighter than ever and will surely only continue to go up from here.
