Coach Dave Peck leaving Sanpete

By Matt Harris 

Staff writer

12-19-2019

MT. PLEASANT—Coach Dave Peck, a legend in Utah high school football, will be returning to his old stomping ground next season, it was announced Friday.

                Peck, who had been serving as the defensive coordinator for North Sanpete for the last four years, accepted the head coaching job at Bingham, a 6A program where he coached from 2001 to 2015, won five state titles, and garnered national rankings multiple times. He had an overall record of 154-37 in his 15 years with the program.

North Sanpete Head Coach Rhett Bird, who is Peck’s nephew, said Peck plans to coach Bingham until his official retirement in seven years. Bird said that Peck had been thinking about the new position for a few weeks and decided it’s what he wants to do.

Coach Bird went on to say this about his nephew: “We are very grateful that we have had the opportunity to have him in our program. The lessons and the knowledge that he brought with him will continue to have major impacts on us.”

Cade Beck, a longtime assistant, will take over as defensive coordinator, Bird said. “We had already planned this move before knowing that he [Peck] was interested in the Bingham job so we will not miss a beat. Coach Beck been a part of North Sanpete Football for a long time and he will do a great job calling the defense for us.”

Peck was not available for comment on this story at the time.

Under Peck’s mentorship, North Sanpete’s football program turned into a powerhouse in the last two years. After a rough start where the Hawks went 4-5 in 2016 and 0-10 in 2017, they turned a corner in a huge way last year with a 7-5 season and a Cinderella run to the 3A state championship game.

Last season, North Sanpete had its most dominant regular season since 2002, going 11-2 and reaching the 3A semifinals.

Most notably, Peck’s influence showed in the defense. The Hawks intensity on defense was evident almost from the moment Peck donned a red and black polo, and they began the 2016 season with a 2-1 start, both victories over playoff-bound 4A teams.

In 2019, North Sanpete held all but three of their opponents to 14 points or less and posted three shutout wins. Even their semifinal loss ended 10-7 to Morgan, one of the highest-scoring teams in 3A this year.