The Montezuma-Cortez football team is under new direction.

Dave Wagner was named the new head coach this summer and has been installing his system to prepare for the 2015 season.

A San Diego native, Wagner spent 13 years in the Navy before getting into coaching.

Along with his high school coaching experience, Wagner has been an offensive line coach at the college level and coached semi-professional football in the Arizona Football League.

As a high school head coach, Wagner has compiled a 52-18 record and has taken his teams to the playoffs in all but one season. The one lone year a Wagner-led squad did not make the playoffs was the year he began the football program at Apache Trail (Ariz.) High School and went 1-8. However, the following year, the team went 11-1 and won the state title.

Joining Wagner’s staff for the first year are assistant coaches Stephen Fenlason, Keith Mikhail and Elijah Lansing.

After coaching the line at Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, Fenlason will be instructing the offensive and defensive lines.

Mikhail has been named defensive coordinator. Mikhail graduated from Durango High School and played college football at Western State Colorado University before moving on to arena football and a year playing professionally in Germany.

Lansing is new to the coaching staff, but not to M-CHS. Lansing was a 2014 all-conference honorable mention selection as an offensive and defensive lineman, and after graduating, he is staying on as an assistant coach.

Wagner, Fenlason, Mikhail and Lansing are joined by returning assistant coaches Scott Conklin, Kirby Case and Tim Robinson.

Wager is excited about the new opportunity, but he’s also been open about his affection for the community.

“People here wave, and I say hello to everybody,” he said. “And people say hello back and don’t look at you like you’re strange.

“I should have moved here 20 years ago.”