This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Skyridge High is scheduled to open its doors in August of 2016, but the Lehi-based school has already started putting pieces in motion with the announcement of the hiring of Jon Lehman as the football coach and Jeff Gardner as the boys' basketball coach.
Lehman has served as the defensive coordinator at American Fork the past six seasons, while Gardner is currently the head coach at Brighton. Gardner will continue to coach the Bengals in the upcoming season, which he has done for the past four years after coaching in the same capacity at his alma mater, Mountain View, for five years.
"I am grateful for the opportunity I had to coach some of the most outstanding young men I have ever known over the past six years at American Fork," Lehman said in a press release. "I look forward to the opportunity to build a new program at Skyridge, one that the community of Lehi will be proud of."
Gardner is a resident of Lehi, with his family residing in Skyridge boundaries. He leaves behind the Brighton program that he's built into a yearly contender for the opportunity to coach at the high school his children will attend. The Bengals qualified for the postseason all four years under Gardner, including advancing to the semifinals three times and the state championship twice.
"I felt for my family it was going to be best if I was close," Gardner said. "That's the main reason. I live here in this Lehi community, and it's been a good fit. I've had a great experience at Brighton. Obviously we're really proud of what we were able to accomplish. That's what makes this whole thing hard, is I do have a great situation at Brighton, but ultimately the proximity was the big thing."
— Trevor Phibbs
Twitter: @trevorphibbs