×
×
homepage logo
SUBSCRIBE

Clearfield High picks Farmington defensive coordinator Cody Caputo as head football coach

By PATRICK CARR - Prep Sports Reporter | Dec 8, 2023

This week has been fairly busy for Cody Caputo and his family, between birthday parties for his son and being in the middle of buying a new home.

Between all that, Caputo interviewed for and accepted the job to become head football coach at Clearfield High School, which the school announced Thursday. Caputo interviewed Monday, said he was offered the job Tuesday, accepted it Wednesday and told his team at Farmington, where he was defensive coordinator, on Thursday afternoon.

“I am super excited, man. It’s been a long time. I’ve interviewed for more jobs than I’d like to admit, but I’ve been working towards it for a long time and I’m honored that the admin at Clearfield has given me the opportunity, and I’m just ready to get going,” Caputo told the Standard-Examiner on Friday.

He’ll split time teaching PE at Clearfield and Farmington starting in January, he said.

Caputo, a Northridge alumnus and former Weber State football player, coached football at Roy High under Fred Fernandes for several years before moving to Farmington, where he’s spent the last six seasons as defensive coordinator.

In Farmington’s two best years, 2019 and 2022, the Phoenix had high-level defenses. The 2019 defense gave up 14.8 points per game (on the field; one game was later turned from a loss to a forfeit win), which ranked third in 5A that year.

In 2022, FHS went to the state semifinals and allowed 16.8 points per game, which ranked fourth in 6A. Caputo said he’s grateful to Farmington head coach Daniel Coats for giving him a chance to be a coordinator for the last six years.

In heading to Clearfield, Caputo takes the helm of a program that’s been among the worst in the state for the better part of two decades.

The Falcons have had consecutive 0-10 seasons, lost 29 straight games and Caputo will be the third different head coach since Andre Dyson left in 2020 (the previous two were both fired). Their last win was on Aug. 20, 2021, against Bear River.

Caputo’s outlook on the challenge of making Clearfield’s program competitive again isn’t rocket science. He stressed the importance of the weight room, the fundamentals of football (specifically blocking and tackling), improving every day and being resilient.

“I think if I can get the kids to … worry about the process more than they’re concerned about the outcome, I think that’ll get us on the right track and the wins will come when they come, but I think the first thing we gotta do is to get them to buy in,” he said.

Caputo’s hire fills one of five total head football coaching vacancies in Northern Utah so far, and there could be more on the way. Box Elder and West Field hired their football head coaches, plucking from Logan and Syracuse respectively.

Fremont is three weeks into its hiring process, while the Syracuse High job closed on Friday, according to the Davis School District website.

Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)