CHSAA hall of famer Justin Armour to return to Manitou Springs as girls basketball coach
MANITOU SPRINGS — Justin Armour is heading back to the high school coaching ranks. The former three-sport standout at Manitou Springs and wide receiver for the Denver Broncos has accepted the position of head girls basketball coach for the Mustangs.
He takes over for Ed Longfield, the District 14 superintendent, who quietly stepped down at the conclusion of the season.
Armour will be the third coach in as many years for Manitou, but with his children on the verge of entering high school, he could very well be a long-term solution.
“I’m pretty tough-skinned with whatever happens,” Armour said. “But I’m certainly looking forward to the opportunity to coach my daughter and her friends. And they’re only sixth graders. So I’ll certainly be here through her high school years.”
This will not be the first foray into high school coaching for Armour. When he moved his family back to Manitou Springs in 2010, he took the head football job. His predecessor was John McGee, Manitou’s athletic director.
He coached the football team for two years before resigning to focus on opening a restaurant in Manitou Springs. He has continued to serve as a youth basketball coach for his children.
“I love basketball,” he said. “I’ve been coaching my own kids for the last couple of years in basketball and I’ve been having a blast doing it.”
Armour helped lead the Mustangs to a Class 3A state football championship in 1990. That same year, he helped the basketball team reach 3A Final 4. That was the last time the Mustangs basketball team advanced to the state semifinals.
He would go on to play football at Stanford before being drafted into the NFL by the Buffalo Bills. He signed with the Broncos in 1998, and was on the roster for the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship team. He played his final year in the NFL in 1999 for the Baltimore Ravens.
He was inducted into the CHSAA hall of fame in 2011.
