McGuire, a former wide receiver at Roy High and later placing his playing career in the hands of Matt Wells at Utah State, is the second head coaching hire at Bonneville in just 16 months since longtime leader Jantz Afuvai stepped down from his position last spring.

The former architect of the Royal offense, McGuire previously assisted Afuvai at Bonneville from 2019 to 2021, and is now in charge of the Lakers entering his first fall as a head coach.

The Lakers have won just three games since posting a 6-6 finish in 2023, and their latest campaign was a struggle across the board with an 0-3 start to the nonregion slate, followed by a rocky road through Region 5 with their best performance, a 38-34 loss at Roy, featuring two Royals touchdowns 20 seconds apart in the fourth quarter.

Taylor Walkenhorst delivered an 0-10 campaign last fall, and subsequently walked away from the program shortly thereafter.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

“The first month or so, I felt like a traitor,” McGuire said of leaving Roy for Bonneville the first time in 2019. “But once I had spent a few short weeks at Bonneville, it quickly created a special place in my heart. The people there were very supportive, took care of us as a football team and we just had an administrative team that was awesome. … I always felt kind of pulled back that way a little bit.

“I was always interested in keeping up with how they were doing and touching base with some of the underclassmen over there during their senior year. It continued to have a special place in my heart during my time at Roy High.”

Bonneville drops 22 seniors to graduation, including starting running back Noah Chavez, and senior quarterback Paden Toula is now at Davis. Additionally, the Lakers lose 176 combined tackles from three of last year’s top five defenders as the defense hits the reset button. McGuire, set to call the offense this fall, brought in former Woods Cross and Farmington staffer Eric Johnsen as defensive coordinator to help the transition.

Just five starters return, including senior safety Cache Jensen (78 combined tackles). Before assessing talent levels, though, McGuire set out to establish some expectations around what his football program is about (many of them inspired by Roy’s Chris Solomona and other coaching mentors).

“The very first few things were changing up the mentality of the kids,” McGuire said. “I laid out some core values for our team, and these values are things that’re very simple, very basic, but they translate to everything off the field. We try to focus on things that aren’t directly related to just football. It’s more about teaching them how to work hard, to be team players, to have integrity and develop some discipline.”

“If we can really cash in and start developing those kids in those areas, we have a lot of confidence the football aspect is going to start taking care of itself.”

As summer practices close and the season nears, McGuire is inspired by just how many potential leaders are emerging.

Two linemen — senior Wade Wayman and junior Carson Wilkins — will lead both sides of the trenches with much of the team’s skill assortment doubling in the middle row and secondary this fall.

Two potential names are listed at quarterback in junior Polo Afuvai and freshman newcomer Luke Loughton. From what McGuire’s laid out about his offense, the winning candidate will be able to make quick decisions and control the game from the field. Two running backs in senior Champ Snyder and junior Kaden Martinez will compete similarly for touches.

The Lakers are particularly older at tight end with junior Trevyn Sears, senior Steven Barella, and Parley Brand lending some extra size to a pass game that’ll be working with a fresh face under center.

“We’re an offense that takes advantage of what the defense gives us,” McGuire said. “So on any given play, we’ve got some plays, there’s two, some plays, there’s four options built into the play, depending how the defense lines up, and, you know, their tendencies with our formations and motions. We’re going to train our quarterbacks to put us in an advantageous situation every time. So, it’s very flexible post-snap offense, very reactionary to what the defense is doing. A lot times, the defense is reacting to the offense, but we’re almost reacting to them, in a way.”

It’s a season of firsts for everyone, not just McGuire.

Bonneville is looking for a new chapter for its football program, and is working on its third head coach in two years to see whether a sustainable product can make its way onto Budge Field. Asked about the challenge, McGuire said timing was everything with his decision, and that the support staff around him only fuels his excitement about the prospects of his first head coaching gig.

“I enjoyed those positions and always kind of said I’d take that step to become a head coach if the right opportunity presented (itself),” McGuire said. “The job opened up, my wife and I weren’t interested in moving super far away, and we’re already pretty close to Weber County so the proximity was quite a factor. I already had relationships with the community and some of the faculty, so that all clicked with me.”

Bonneville kicks off the season at Viewmont on Friday, Aug. 14.

Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.