PARKER — The Colorado High School Activities Association placed Legend High School football head coach Jake Heaps on restriction after rule violations by the program over the past year.
Heaps is suspended for the Titans’ first two games of 2026, on Aug. 28 against Grandview and Sept. 4 against Chaparral. He will not be allowed to coach in the playoffs because of the restriction.
Legend, the Class 5A runner-up in 2024, is again expected to be a serious postseason contender. Heaps’ restriction — which is for a year unless approves a formal request by the Legend administration to remove him beforehand — is a significant consequence for one of Colorado’s marquee big-school teams. Once Heaps is off restriction, he’ll be on probation for a year.
Paula Hans, a spokesperson for the Douglas County School District, confirmed the punishment, which CHSAA does not make public. Heaps and Legend athletic director Dan Simington did not return requests for comment Friday morning.
“(Douglas County School District) takes all CHSAA rules seriously and expects our coaches and staff to abide by these rules,” Hans wrote in an email. “While we evaluate how and why this happened, we will comply with the restrictions that have been imposed on the coach, including the two game suspension.”
Heaps is in his second season at Legend. The 35-year-old is a former college and professional QB and remains a notable quarterback coach who has trained players like Russell Wilson and other pros. Heaps’ staff at Legend includes Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles, who is the program’s director of player development.
Heaps’ suspension and restriction came after Legend’s program was placed on probation last fall for impermissible contact and got in trouble again recently for violating CHSAA’s preseason practice rules.
The impermissible contact violation occurred last season, when Legend freshman coach Michael Norton reached out to players who were not in Legend’s attendance area. Per 1900.5, a subsection of the rules on recruiting, “outside of informational nights, individuals representing the school — other than school administrators — are prohibited from meeting/communicating with non-prospective students/families (as defined in 1900.11) about their school’s athletic programs.”
Bylaw 1900.11 defines a prospective student as “a student who attends a feeder elementary or middle school, or with those students that have pre-registered to attend that high school.”
Norton contacted non-prospective students on social media, according to sources, and invited them to attend a Titans practice or game. Legend was placed on probation after the 2025 season ended. Norton also was placed on restriction. Legend remains on probation through the end of this season, upon which the Titans administration can make a formal request to CHSAA’s Board of Directors to be removed from that status.
Because of Legend’s probationary status entering this season, when Legend practiced in full pads before the required start date for contact, the Titans were dealt a harsher punishment than the two other schools that CHSAA punished this month for the same issue.
Those other two programs, Chatfield and Vista Ridge, were put on probation, according to sources. Chatfield head coach Kris Rosholt and Vista Ridge head coach Matt Wibbels are each suspended for one game, but neither was placed on restriction, as Heaps was.
CHSAA Bylaw 3410.1 states that “no pads or other components of regular football uniforms except shoes, jerseys and helmets may be worn by the players until one week of heat acclimatization has occurred of the formal sports season.” The Heat Acclimatization Period was Aug. 3-8.
Legend, Chatfield and Vista Ridge were running padded practices during that time, according to sources. The , which is in its second year of existence in Colorado prep football, has become common at the youth and high school levels nationwide. Safety precautions are in effect during the period to minimize the risk of heat illnesses during hot preseason practices when players are first working out in equipment.
In addition to being a CHSAA bylaw, the Heat Acclimatization Period is also cited on the opening page of the , which specifically mentions the period while noting that “safety information from the CHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee is included in the bulletin and should be reviewed by coaches prior to the start of the season to ensure safety precautions are followed.”
Additional CHSAA rule violations by Legend and/or any of its coaches amid its ongoing probationary period could have serious repercussions for the program. Depending on the severity of any future infraction, the Titans could be placed on restriction as a team and thus be ineligible for the playoffs.
Last year the Titans went 10-2 under Heaps, with both losses coming by one point. Legend fell to Valor Christian 31-30 in the Class 5A quarterfinals at EchoPark Stadium when the Eagles batted down the Titans’ 2-point conversion attempt on the final play. .
It’s not immediately clear who will be Legend’s interim head coach for the first two games and in the playoffs, if Heaps remains on restriction. Heaps is eligible to return to game action on Sept. 10 for the Titans’ road tilt against Cherry Creek.
The 2026 Colorado high school football season officially kicks off with Week 0 on Thursday, Aug. 20, on a night when reigning champion Cherry Creek plays on the road at Chatfield at 7 p.m. at Jeffco Stadium.
