Welcoming The New Varsity Football Coach

     Conifer High School is kicking off this football season with major changes to the program, all prompted by the introduction of a new coach, Matthew Steinfeltt. This alteration was announced on February 15th. Steinfeltt has been coaching for 25 years, and most recently coached at Bear Creek High School. 

      For the past eight years, Jonathan Shipley has coached the team, but after moving to Michigan to be closer to his growing family (read more at Head Football Coach Leaving Conifer), Conifer began a lengthy process to find a new coach for Conifer. After a seven-person interview panel with administrators, 3 football parents, coaches, Conifers athletic director, and several football players, they found Coach Stienfeltt fit for the job. 

     “I was on the interview committee, so the second we had him, we knew he was the one. He connects with us well and has a fun side to him. Stein’s awesome,” Senior Mason Murphy said. Murphy plays for Conifers’ team as a wide receiver and cornerback.

      Steinfeltt recently moved to Denver four years ago, and when news came out of Shipley leaving Conifer, Steinfeltt was interviewed and accepted after a few years of being interested in Conifer.

     “I always thought working at Conifer would be a fun place to be, you can tell it has an awesome community,” Steinfeltt said. “I think Coach Shipley built a phenomenal culture and a great foundation for success. I’d like to be a part of it and to add to it.” 

     Steinfeltt has also worked at 7 different colleges, one being Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado. Steinfeltt began working there in 2010 as an offensive and recruiting coordinator, as well as a quarterback coach. 

     “I like his football knowledge. I like that he played a high level of football, and he can coach any position,” Murphy said.

     In his first season at Fort Lewis, he greatly increased the passing game, gaining 2,807 yards, 271 completions, and 20 touchdowns. 

     “My past coach, Steinfeltt, made me want to coach at Conifer. He inspired me to be able to teach the things that I know on the field, which was being a quarterback. He also taught me how to help the team’s mentality. Not just seeing the football field but living life as a good man,” Coach Adrian Rico said. 

     Rico was a 2024 graduate at Bear Creek last year with Steinfeltt as his previous coach. He was ranked top 16 in Colorado. He followed Steinfeltt to Conifer where he is now the coach for  JV and the new L3 team. 

     “I’ve played football my whole life. Football has made me want to stick around and teach what I know from the past,” Rico said. 

     Steinfeltt has been working with his team to continue to build the foundation and culture of Conifer that Shipley and the team made. 

     “I think we’re building a really great community with older kids and younger kids. I’m glad he’s here,” junior quarterback Jack Van-Airsdale said.

     Steinfeltt plans on implementing a new weight-lifting program, helping his team on and off the field, and teaching his players new skills.

     “We have a bargaining culture. We just want to be successful and win and I want to help them with that. I am asking my players things that we haven’t done before. We have to learn how to do those things. That’s one thing we need to get better at this season,” Steinfeltt said. 

     This year coach Steinfeltt changed the layout of practices, focusing more on committing time to special teams, like kickoff and kick return, and allowing more time for tackling drills. He also changed practice times to start earlier and end later so that the team can utilize every opportunity to improve. 

      Sophomore Silar Washer plays receiver and cornerback for varsity and swings down to help out the younger teams.  

     “I really like the new coach. He’s really dedicated to our program. Everything is more organized, and we get straight to the point, making sure to get everything done,” Washer said. This is Washers’ second year playing for Conifer, and he plays receiver and corner.

     “I think we’re doing pretty good, and we might be able to make playoffs. I’m just excited for this season.” Senior Teddy Arnold said. 

      Arnold has been playing for Conifer since his freshman year. Yet another thing Steinfeltt implemented into the program was time for pre-practice, where players go into groups based on their position and warm up before official practice starts.

     “He’s a great guy. He changed the entire program, and I think it’s for the better. He gets us in the weight room, and the way we practice is different. It’s more intense, quicker, and we go through things a lot faster- Everyone’s out there giving 100 percent, feeling pretty confident with the team,” Arnold said. Stein also teaches weightlifting for the school and enforces football-centered workouts to improve his players’ speed, strength, and agility, which Arnold participates in during school. 

     “My goal this season is to win. Not just at football games. Not just on the scoreboard. It’s in the culture. What we do, how we go about it, classroom time, building relationships. Everything we do.” Coach Stein said.