Eric Sorenson
The overcrowded 2024-25 Arizona high school football coaching carousel has mercilessly slowed to a mere crawl after five months of gridiron hopscotch.
62 different schools pivoted in leadership in what many feel is the most important coaching position on campus.
62.
A staggeringly high volume of playoff regulars have seen fresh faces step in.
Hamilton (2nd-year), Chandler (1st-year), Casteel (1st-year), Centennial (1st-year), Desert Edge (2nd-year), Chaparral (1st-year), Mountain Pointe (1st-year), Arcadia (1st-year), Saguaro (2nd-year), Tucson Salpointe (2nd-year), Horizon (2nd-year), Mountain View (2nd-year).
Welcome Coach Wisdom! 🐺🏈 @Coach_Wiz3 pic.twitter.com/yuNnXwwe2J
— Chandler High Football Boosters (@chandler_wolves) December 22, 2024
These changes can be unsettling for players, parents, and principles but maybe none feel the heat, at least at the big school level, more than athletic directors – who either wear their new hires as badges of honor in our prep football-obsessed state, or feel the ripple effect for years for not properly finding the right candidate initially.
One big school Valley AD agreed to, off the record, pull back the curtain with “Zone Read” on a number of different factors and scenarios inside the hiring process of a varsity head football coach.
It Starts at the Top
Synergy and buy-in at the highest levels are the base foundation for success inside all athletic programs but, in reality, it begins and ends with football.
“How important does your superintendent think it is to have a good football program?,” our selected athletic director said. “Is there alignment at the very top where they all think, ‘These are important positions.’
— CentennialAthletics (@CeHSathletics) January 30, 2025
“So is hiring a science teacher. So is hiring a great math teacher that’s going to teach calculus to your honor students who are National Merit Scholars. So is hiring a great band instructor that’s going to win competitions. Public schools are fighting for enrollment and kids.”
With growing enrollments come kids who play sports.
Quite simply, big-school athletics continue to be a numbers game here in Arizona.
Beyond the Applicants
Every head coaching position must be publicly posted, by law, on their district website.
Some AD’s take it a step, or several steps, further.
“If you’re a really good school with a really good success rate in football, and I would say other sports, that’s going to an attractive job and draw a ton of candidates,” this athletic director said. “But some candidates may not apply because they’re happy where they’re at.
“I might pick up the phone and see if they’re happy where they’re at. If I’m at a 6A school, maybe a [successful coach] from a 4A or 5A school is looking to move up. You want to attract the best possible candidates that you can attract to the job.”
It’s also not uncommon for prep AD’s to look at fast-rising coordinators hoping to break through as head coaches, just like we see at the college and NFL level.
🚨BREAKING 🚨: @ChapfootballAZ is hiring @Trace_Carroll as their new head varsity football coach.
An alum/former Chap player, Carroll comes to ChapTown after serving as passing game coordinator & QB Coach @PinnaclePioneer.
This is a great fit for both sides. @Sports360AZ pic.twitter.com/ozRT5CCJbf
— Eric Sorenson (@EricSports360AZ) March 24, 2025
It’s all about finding the secret sauce – on many levels.
“I think what you’re looking for is that proven track record,” he continued. “Someone who knows how to be successful…who’s got that ‘street cred.’”
Open enrollment also plays a sizable factor in the hiring.
“Whether it’s liked, or not liked, kids often times choose to go to a high school out of their boundary,” he noted. “Could be a private school, could be a public school, could be a charter school. Or it’s a public school that has a track record of football success.
“These are circumstances which need to be considered.”
Factoring in the Factors
High school varsity football coaches are teachers – who, for the most part, work on teacher salaries.
“Dollars are going to be a factor, but I don’t think it’s the most important thing,” they noted. “High school coaches know there’s a [salary] shelf that you can get to.”
Arizona power programs may be able to offer their new hires certain pieces to elevate the base number.
“Are there stipends available? Some schools offer stipends for being the head coach in the fall. Does it offer a spring coaching stipend? Some programs supplement with strength and conditioning stipends for overseeing that. Those are all pieces.”
Additional opportunities may include off-season summer camps, youth camps and coaching speaking engagements or clinics.
The more years of experience you have in education, the more financial increases/bumps/bonuses you likely have available.
Beyond the dollars and cents, there are other intangibles, including the visual appeal of your program.
“Are your facilities top-tier?,” they explained. “Is your weight room [impressive]? Do you have a film room? A field house? Your field. Your locker room facilities. What else do you have that’s attractive beyond the monetary part because coaches want to win.”
Lastly, it’s about finding a head coach who can develop these players to get to the next level.
“Players want to know, ‘Are we able to put a system and a structure in place where we are accelerating young people’s development?’ What they really want is to go to the college level, especially with NIL. That’s the stage they’re really looking for and something we as AD’s need to consider [when hiring] The culture has changed.’
The Timeline
While there is no truly exact science in the hiring process window, this off-season has seen a wide range of gaps, and a few bizarre chapters, between the old head coach exiting, and their replacement being hired.
Schools are different.
Districts are different.
Timing may be different.
Administrators must put together their hiring committee and it may be difficult to match several schedules, depending on when the coaching position officially opens.
Another hurdle may be where candidates are located. If out of state, merely taking into account travel time and other logistics for in-person interviews could push the window back a few days, or even a few weeks.
“In a perfect world, you want to hire a coach in December,” the AD explained. “This allows you to set the timeline and do things more quickly. If you find out that you need to hire a head coach in February or March, I think it becomes much more challenging.
“The later it goes, the harder it gets. Your candidate pool is shrunk.”
A December hire not only has a couple of built-in holiday break weeks, it allows the new coach to hit the ground running when classes resume in January.
Further, the longer the hiring process takes, the more likely it will be players will transfer out due to indecision at the top of the hiring committee.
The Hire
Arizona high school football is the tone setter.
It’s the first sport of season. It brings communities closer together to gather, sometimes by the thousands, to watch high-level games under the lights in the fall.
The time and commitment to host a varsity football game is like no other. From concessions, to security, to game ops, the chain gang, the list goes on and on.
All these factors put immense pressure on athletic directors and hiring committees to hit a grand slam when tabbing their schools’ next varsity football coach.
“I think it’s one of the most important things to get right,” the AD explained. “It sets the culture in your football and athletic programs because it’s one of the most visible and marketable sports. It’s the most visible if things are going well and it’s the most visible if things aren’t going well.”
