“If we can be perfect in our effort, I think we’re gonna have a lot of success.” coach Aaron Cupp says when asked about what kind of identity he wants his Bridgeport Bulls to have on a Friday night.
Cupp is entering his second season with the Bulls, in his first season he led the team to an overall 3-7 record and a 1-4 record in district play, in 2023 the Bulls were 1-9 overall. Bridgeport competes in a tough district with schools like Brock and Graham, Cupp says “At this point we’re very optimistic, so we’ll see how it goes.”
It is safe to say Cupp knows football. He played college ball at Brigham Young University (BYU) during their Cotton Bowl win in 1996 and a Liberty Bowl win in 1998. He then went on to coach high school football for over 20 years in the states of Texas, Washington, and Oregon. Cupp says that these coaching experiences over the years have given him a lot of diversity from big schools to small schools and will allow him to bring new things into this Bridgeport football team.
Cupp continues on to tell us that the core values of this program are character, passion, and “spirit of the bull”, which means being gritty and knowing that win or lose, the important thing is competing with toughness, courage, and dedication, which gets talked about everyday. A major part of this team’s success is how the Bridgeport community shows up not just on Friday nights, but for every aspect of this athletic program.
Cupp explains that the athletic program is just a big family. “We try to do some things that are nonconventional”, this year they planned a “family workout” that included all sports, both genders, and all grade levels going down to middle school, as well as parents. Cupp says this shows to the people of Bridgeport that this is more than an athletic department, but that they respect the community and are part of Bridgeport.