This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

As soon as the school announced Carl Franke would be Desert Hills' next head football coach, droves of students headed over to his classroom. They cheered him, shook his hand, patted on the back - the players might be more excited than he is.

But the 36-year-old Franke, who has served as the team's offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, is definitely ready for his first shot at the top job.

"I've been doing this so long, I had in my mind what I would do when I became head coach," he said. "Coach [Jake] Nelson and I talked a lot together about the responsibilities, so I understand a lot of them. None of this is too new to me, aside from being at the front of the relationship with the parents and the community. I'm excited for this opportunity."

Franke is a somewhat natural successor to Nelson, who took the Thunder to the Class 3A championship game last year before retiring to spend time with his family. Franke was one of the architects of Desert Hills' great success only in its fourth year of existence.

For the most part, he's not going to change much.

"The staff will be pretty much the same, and the schemes will be tweaked, but those will be mostly the same," Franke said. "We've been so successful, we're mostly comfortable with what we have.

The Desert Hills administration was equally keen on keeping Franke around.

"He's been a part of our successes and growth," principal Rusty Taylor said. "He knows the boys, he loves them and he loves what's going on here. The whole school is excited to see him get the opportunity."

It will be a difficult road back to the playoffs - particularly with 26 seniors graduating this year. But Franke said wins can often ebb and flow. The Thunder will try to keep consistent with the method of success. Hopefully then, the wins will keep coming.

"We want to continue doing the little things right and staying true to ourselves," he said. "All our sports do the same things with the same template. These seniors set the standard, and now it's up to the younger guys to match it."

— Kyle Goonkgoon@sltrib.comTwitter: @kylegoon