(Coach Dan Doom)
(Coach Dan Doom)
Coach Doom's first involvement with W.H.S. was as a freshman student. In his sophmore year Doom started on the varsity team. They went undefeated and were the mythical State Champions. The final football game of the year was against Peoria H.S. "I remember two things from that game-first I got to carry the ball as a fullback for the first time in my career and I got face masked by a little 130 lbs. defensive end that almost knocked me out when I hit the ground head first. The second was that it was Coach Ralph Moran's birthday and it was a great present to win the game for him."
Several years later, after graduating from ASU, he returned to Wickenburg as a teacher and a coach. "I was the assistant to Ralph Moran for many years including our undefeated 12 and 0 season and Class B State Champions in 1977. The most memorable thing that sticks out in my mind about the game was the trip home to Wickenburg. From Morristown we were escorted home by a 10 mile long caravan to the Elks Club where they had somehow prepared a victory dinner for the team, coaches, friends and anyone else that wanted to attend. The next major milestone was starting the Wrangler track program. A few years later I had a great group of guys that had worked for several years together. At the State Track Meet held at ASU, we got on a roll winning the majority of the events to win the Class B State Championship in 1976." Over a 25 year span, the Wranglers won 13 individual State Champion medals. One of those individuals is now a teacher and coach, Bill Root who won the 100, 440, and ran on the Mile relay team that won State. A few years later Coach Doom started the Cross Country Team which produced one of the top distance runners in the Class A division, Shawn Gardner, who won the 800 meter run and setting a state record of 1 min 58 sec. Another outstanding runner, that was related to Shawn, was Tyson Gardner who was a State Champion in the 110 Hurdlers and won the 300 I. Hurdles at the Luke Greenway Meet of Champions.
In addition to coaching football, track, and cross country, he has coached boys and girls basketball and was the girls varsity coach for several years. Currently, Mr. Doom is in his 13th year as the Wrangler Golf Coach. "As both a head coach and an assistant coach I really appreciated and respected the hard work the assistant coaches and volunteer coaches put in."
Mr. Doom is married and has three children. Both his wife and children also graduated from WHS. Coach Doom's son has the first school record in the 800 meters with a time of 1 min 59 sec and also played basketball. His second son was a shot put and discus thrower and also wrestled. "I guess you can say that Wickenburg High School has played a big part in our family's history and as a coach I really enjoy the memories of all the great Wickenburg athletes that I have had the opportunity to work with."