Rampart brings back Rob Royer as head football coach

Rob Royer abruptly left the Rampart football program in the spring of 2019. Now he’s returning to keep the Rams on the winning track he and his staff got them on starting in the 2014 season.

Athletic director Andy Parks confirmed on Thursday that Royer will return as the head coach of the Rams in 2022. The announcement was made after the school went through the district hiring policies to officially bring him back.

“It feels good to be back,” Royer said. “A PE positioned opened (at the school) and there was a lot of talk in my family about the status of education. People are leaving and kids are struggling. If there was a way I could help in the building academically and athletically it felt like something I should do.”

Troy Ward, the man who took over for Royer, will remain with the program as the defensive coordinator. Ward proved himself to be a valuable piece of Rampart’s continued success. In the fall of 2020, a COVID shortened season, he led the Rams to a 5-2 record which included a 17-14 win over Fountain-Fort Carson, a team that later advanced to the Class 4A semifinals. That win gained Ward enough notoriety to be name the Denver Broncos High School Football Coach of the Week.

“[Troy] will continue to be a valued resource for the program,” Parks said in the letter. “His contributions have been, and will continue to be, vital to the success of the Rampart football family.”

Ward was on the staff when Royer was the head coach and with his added experience as a head coach, the Rams should have a coaching staff loaded with some of the best personnel that the city of Colorado Springs.

“Troy has always been a valued member of my staff,” Royer said. “I highly recommended that he take over when I left and I’m looking forward to working with him. We’ve never not been in touch so it’s kind of cool. Troy’s a great guy.”

While coaching at Rampart, Royer led the team to a 36-19 record and won two league championships. In his five seasons, the Rams made the playoffs four times.

Royer returning keeps the continuity of the program intact. Now the task turns to getting the Rams ready for the 2022 season. A lot of athletes are competing in winter sports but Royer is already excited to get his guys going in an offseason workout plan so they can hit the ground running in the fall.

“That’s the fun part,” Royer said. “Every year you sit back and evaluate the program. We were talking in the weight room and those outgoing seniors kind of let that transition to go through to those juniors and sophomores. Their job is to set the culture so the 2022 Rams will look different, but it will also carry on a lot of what we’ve been doing for the last eight years. We hope that culture never graduates.”