Wellington football coach Travis Peeples points to the clipped article pinned behind his desk.
"Knights' starting QB no ordinary Peeples," reads the old Orlando Sentinel headline from September 1990.
It's a spot-on descriptor of the Eagles' head man.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBold and brash. Loud, yet humble. All about the details, but a self-proclaimed "free spirit."
It's added up to an ideal marriage between coach and team, man and community, personality and performance.
Wellington (12-0, 5-0 league) is 31-4 over the last three seasons and back in the Colorado Class 2A state championship game (vs. No. 4 Elizabeth, 5 p.m. Nov. 29) for a second straight time in just the program's fourth year.
It's a chance for the longtime teacher and football lifer to finally win a state title that's been a long time coming in his three decades of coaching.
"This has been the best year of my coaching career," Peeples said, beaming about this Eagles team.
Wellington's head coach Travis Peeples gives instructions from the sideline during a Colorado Class 2A high school football playoff game vs. Alamosa on Nov. 8, 2025 at Wellington Middle-High School in Wellington, Colo.Confidence of a quarterback drives Peeples
Yes, Peeples said, he's always been this way.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe was a standout high school quarterback at Miami's Columbus High School in South Florida, even starting over a young Brian Griese, the future Michigan and Denver Broncos QB.
That QB confidence carried over into everything, on the football field and beyond.
"As a quarterback, you had to be confident. Now as a coach, when you know you’re prepared, you walk out with your chest up," Peeples said.
Peeples went to Central Florida for college, redshirting at first but never wavering in belief of his ability.
Remember the Orlando Sentinel article? It was published when Peeples took over as the starter early in his redshirt freshman season, chronicling his swagger, lengthy mullet, love for hitchhiking and admiration for Bears QB Jim McMahon.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"That’s just me. I’m a free spirit and enjoy life. It's easy because I love what I do and that's football," Peeples said.
The swagger has permeated throughout the Wellington football program but never crosses the line into an arrogance or disrespect.
"He draws that line with us every year. There’s always mutual respect, between us and the coaches or our opponents. But we always believe in ourselves," Wellington senior QB Tanner Gray.
'This is paradise' for Peeples
Peeples has been in Colorado for nearly two decades, coaching along the Front Range from Cheyenne to Greeley to Aurora.
Before Wellington, his previous stint came at Frederick and was a roaring success, going 35-16 with a semifinal appearance in 2019.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut Peeples' heart was even closer to the mountains, where he loves to hunt and fish and enjoy the crisp air.
After he was among the early wave of Colorado COVID infections in spring 2020, Peeples and wife Lori decided to move to Wellington, even before he knew there would be a new school, planning to continue as the Frederick coach.
"It showed me life is short. I needed to be right near all of this," Peeples said, gesturing to the mountains.
Wellington head coach Travis Peeples celebrates with the team after winning the Canvas Classic high school football rivalry game against Timnath High School on Sept. 26, 2025 at CSU's Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colo.There was serendipity involved. First, he noticed there was a new school going up, initially thinking the field under construction was a horse arena.
Next, former Frederick athletic director Leroy Lopez met the new Wellington school's athletic director, Hilarie Bartling, at a CHSAA event.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMonths later, Lopez (then at Evergreen) put in a good word during a playoff run and Peeples soon interviewed for the job. Bartling knew how important football is to the Wellington community — even when it just had a middle school — and wanted a proven head coach for the new school opening in fall 2022.
"He walked into the interview and everyone immediately liked him. You could tell he was fun but detailed. I thought, 'Kids are going to love this guy,'" Bartling said.
Having lived in town already, Peeples felt right at home and embraced by the community straight away.
"We’re super blessed to have him. Not everybody wants the small-town vibe, but we got him at the perfect time. He tells us this is where he wants to retire," Gray said.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHis hard-nosed style of football plays perfectly with a bunch of farm kids and a town built on a tough agricultural mindset.
"This is paradise for me. It’s just been a perfect match," Peeples said.
Wellington's Tanner Gray and head coach Travis Peeples hug after winning a Colorado Class 2A football semifinal vs. The Classical Academy on Nov. 22, 2025 at Wellington Middle-High School in Wellington, Colo.A coach and a mentor in Wellington
The personality and the fit matter, of course. But you still need to coach football.
Peeples can do that plenty well, winning nearly everywhere he's been. Wellington has been no different. In fact, it's been a smash hit.
Peeples has very specific systems he employs based on a lifetime in football. And he doesn't deviate from them. It's a hard-nosed, physical brand of football built on minimizing mistakes and winning the line of scrimmage with a year-round weight-lifting focus.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"The style we’ve embraced here at Wellington, it defines us and starts with him," senior Tyler Shaffer said.
His UCF playing days ultimately included special teams and linebacking play after injuries halted his time at quarterback.
In some ways, that was a blessing in disguise, helping him see the game from all sides and develop the emphasis on the weight room that has been the backbone of these Eagles teams.
Peeples built his big assistant staff primarily from local coaches, requiring little other than a total buy-in to his system.
"I gave him a list of at least 10 people who had been involved in football here or wanted to coach. He went and talked to every single one," Bartling said. Over coffee, Peeples added, given his notorious appreciation for the caffeinated beverage.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"He knows more about football than I ever will. That just said a lot about him," Bartling said.
Wellington's head coach Travis Peeples talks to the team after winning a Colorado Class 2A football semifinal vs. The Classical Academy on Nov. 22, 2025 at Wellington Middle-High School in Wellington, Colo.The secret sauce to Peeples' success in Wellington extends far beyond football. He's a teacher at heart, apt at getting young people to appreciate the work that comes with chasing their goals.
As a PE instructor in the building and father of three sons, Peeples has a "heart for the next generation." Non-athletes get excited to put their names on the weight-room record board during his classes, sometimes even moreso than the football players.
"He gets kids to want to work hard," Bartling said.
"He’s like a second dad to guys on this team," Gray added. "He's much more than just a football coach."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPeeples reframed championship heartbreak
A lifetime of leadership and confidence was required in the moment.
Wellington had just lost the 2024 Colorado 2A title game to The Classicial Academy on a brutal no-fumble call in the final minute. There was anguish, anger and heartbreak in spades, from stands to the sideline.
It could have curdled what was an otherwise magical run to the championship precipice.
Peeples never blamed the referees. Instead, he expressed pride in the program's accomplishment and focused on what the Eagles could control.
"The way we developed this year wasn’t on a sour note, like a lot of people think. We turned that whole deal into a positive, because that's all you can do," Peeples said.
Wellington High School football coach Travis Peeples embraces Eli Lavelle after losing the CHSAA Class 2A state football championship to The Classical Academy at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo Colo. on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024.It led to an offseason mantra of "leave no doubt" that has driven Wellington back and better than ever.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"What he did was so necessary. It really reframed the reaction from our whole community," Bartling said.
The Eagles have internalized that mindset for a year now, from weight room to preseason and an absolutely dominant regular season. They got payback against TCA in the semifinals and are soaring south to Pueblo yet again, favored to capture the title this time.
The circle is almost complete now.
Everybody around the program remembers an infamous first meeting with prospective players and parents back in winter 2022, before the school was even finished.
Peeples spun stories of a state championship in the program's future, trusting in Wellington's can-do mindset and a group of close-knit kids who had come up together through the middle school ranks.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I’m sure people didn’t believe him," Shaffer said, adding that it took guts "saying that to 300 people he mostly just met."
Believe it now, Colorado. Wellington is a 2A power that is here to stay, even as the first full four-year senior class will graduate soon. Those seniors will do so with two unbeaten regular seasons and two straight state-title appearances in tow.
But during that fateful state-championship proclamation, did Peeples himself really believe his title vision could possibly come to fruition this quickly?
"I would have dreamed it. This is the dream. But I wouldn't say it unless I truly believed we could back it up," Peeples said.
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports in Colorado.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Wellington coach Travis Peeples leading team to 2A football title game
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