The first time new Kearns High head football coach John Rowbotham and his wife Laura visited the school last spring was proof enough. After spending two hours walking the hallways, visiting with students, teachers and coaches, he was convinced.

“I hadn’t applied yet for the opening, but just wanted to see the school,” he said. “The coaches had great insights about the community. We walked out, got in the car and I said to my wife, ‘This is where I want to be.’”

Now he is. Coach Row, as he is called, took the helm for the Cougars this year. He said there’s a feeling in the school, literally a tangible feeling of school pride. “We met so many kids that day that were just happy and alive. The community here is behind the school. I’m so very, very thankful to
be here.”

What he wants to bring to the Cougars is the kind of experience he has had as an athlete, starting back when he played at Skyline High under legendary coach Roger Dupaix. But that came after a few years of flag football and following his first contact experience as an eighth grader, which
wasn’t memorable.

“I got my butt kicked,” he said with a smile. “I remember getting beat up every week, and I honestly wanted to quit. I was tall and skinny and had no strength to speak of. But my dad had always offered to train me at his company, ‘Bigger Faster Stronger.’ He got me going with some weight training–it was really hard. By ninth grade, I was bigger and stronger, and I began to fall in love with the physicality of the game.” 

Following his high school career, Row played at Dixie Jr. College, then at the University of Utah, and then at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, where he met his wife Laura. At every school, he “learned a ton about teaching and coaching.” While at the U., he also assisted for one year at Olympus High under head coach Mike Miller, a graduate of Kearns High School.

“What really drew me to football was the teamwork,” he said. “I’d never been involved with a sport where you had to depend on the guys around you to be successful. I love the challenge of bringing people together and getting on the same page. It’s a life lesson that these young men are finding here in the school, that they are part of something that’s bigger than just themselves.”

Laura coaches on his staff and is a teacher at KHS. She’s been working with him as a coach for four or five years, bringing her background in strength and conditioning. 

“We share a passion for helping kids. It would be weird to do this without her,”
he said.

Coach Row and the Cougars have their work cut out for them this year. The team is very young, with only one starter (senior receiver and safety Austin Bell) back from last season. The Cougs also face a grueling preseason schedule before region play starts on Sept. 20 at Taylorsville.

“Some kids who haven’t played before or who’ve been off for a couple of years are coming back to play,” he said. “I think we forget with high school sports that it’s not just about winning games but learning life lessons you’ll use later on. The kids are so coachable and absorbing what we’re teaching them very quickly.”

On opening night Aug. 16, Kearns traveled to Brigham City to play Box Elder and lost 52-7. On Aug. 23, the team dropped its home opener to Woods Cross. But the coach said he sees growth in each game. “We found a couple of things that we can fix going forward, and the number one thing is that they didn’t quit. There was no question about effort–it was about techniques and just inexperience. Those things we can improve on.”

The Cougars want to win, but for Row, that’s not the biggest thing for football, or any prep sport.

“To me, it’s about building relationships with these young men. So many kids I’ve coached through the years–I still have that relationship with them. We have a lot of athleticism and now it’s just the learning curve. In both of our first two games, the growth from the first quarter to the last quarter was amazing. We’re going to build on that here.” λ