Doolan inherits a lot of responsibility, including six returning seniors, just a couple of months removed from the news of Porter becoming the athletic director at Bonneville.

Ogden tips off the season hosting Clearfield on Nov. 14.

It’s Doolan’s first head coaching job following one season in the assistant’s chair at Ogden and another four beside Landon Cosby at Weber High. Doolan is a 2003 Ben Lomond graduate and a two-year college player at Black Hills State in South Dakota.

“I’m super excited to build on the history that not only Trent did, but the traditions here at Ogden, too,” Doolan said. “This is the only head job that made sense that I would apply for. I never really had aspirations, in theory, of being a head coach.”

BRIAN NICHOLSON, Special to the Standard-Examiner

In addition to his recent prep coaching history, Doolan’s spent time coaching at the youth levels and retains a closely associated assistant in Bret Weston from the Porter staff. Doolan highlighted “defense” and “physicality” as the key pillars he’ll retain in Year 1.

“I was fortunate to (become) part of Trent’s staff,” Doolan said. “There’s a lot of cohesion with the staff and with our kids, with that history. And it’s the only job that made sense. I’ve never applied for a head coaching job ever, and I don’t anticipate ever doing it again.”

Porter delivered two winning seasons and a 54-44 overall record in four seasons as head coach; Ogden is coming off a 15-11 finish, its best mark in two years.

Seniors Anderson Curry, Dallin Eliason and Briggs Galbraith are expected to return around the curve. Ryan Kirkland, Blake Weston and Nash Bockwoldt all bring senior pad-level to the paint.

Kirkland, specifically, is a name to watch in the race to replace minutes lost by 2025-26 Standard-Examiner All-Area forward Jackson Maw. Kirkland averaged 9.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.7 blocks through all 26 games as a junior.

“A physical team, that’s what I’m expecting this year,” Kirkland said. “We all have great relationships with each other.”

With such size back, Ogden is eager to preserve its identity as a difficult defensive test among a challenging Region 12, which features back-to-back 3A state champion Morgan.

The Tigers limited opponents to 55.5 per game while fetching 17.6 defensive boards and 8.2 steals in 26 contests. Offensively, Ogden struggled across the floor, shooting above 59% as a team just twice last season.

Doolan is encouraging his group to stretch the floor as much as they can, and simultaneously cutting down on the number of sets his team will run each night.

“I want to play more free and share the ball, and we’re probably going to shoot more 3s if they can make them,” Doolan said. “I anticipate building on a lot of the (defensive) principles that I agreed with Trent, and adding my own twist to it and what that looks like.

“Ask me in three weeks if they’re working or not, and we’ll go from there.”

Tryouts officially begin on Monday, and before his staff identifies where those long-range scorers are, he’s adamant about retaining a physicality standard at practice. Doolan expects his final cut to be around 28 to 30 players.

“You’ve got to be strong on the defensive side of the ball, and you’ve got to be physical going after the ball, and I (think) that we preach that,” Doolan said. “I think having a bunch of football boys, we’ve always carried that mentality that they don’t back down.”

An emphasis on good defense has Curry and this year’s senior class motivated to enter the season, all under the expectation that the scoring will come.

“Knowing that Corey was the other option, I was fine with it because for how long I’ve known (Doolan) for, that was definitely the best option,” Curry said. “I think it’ll be good to have all our football players out there again, too, because everyone’s naturally more physical and we’ve all been playing since Junior Jazz, so just knowing you’ll be out there with those boys will be good.”

Since dropping to 3A in 2021, Ogden has posted winning seasons twice (2025-26 and 2023-24), both times under Porter’s direction. The Tigers haven’t won a state title since 1992; Ogden last made a state semifinal appearance against Judge Memorial during the 2023-24 season.

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