Eric Sorenson
When I received this tongue-in-cheek text from a Valley assistant coach, it just got me thinking.
“I am driving to the school to do some ‘voluntary’ workouts.”
Our conversation happened on a Friday afternoon…in late May.
While school may be out for summer, the dismissal bell for high school football never truly rings for many big programs here in Arizona.
Lifting and conditioning in May could easily stretch all the way to four, even five, days a week. June is typically 7’s, bigs, and camp season. While July may be “lighter” by football standards, many schools continue to lift consistently, sometimes daily, in the “dead of summer” as we like to call it.
Coaches have referred to it as “building on the progress of the off-season.”
“The off-season.”
Honestly, is there even such a thing anymore?
Are we walking a fine line between raising the bar of competitiveness and overworking teenagers who may already struggle with football/other sports, academics, social aspects, and family obligations during the eight-to-nine-month high school calendar year?
For some head coaches, this can be a tougher call than fourth-and-three near midfield in a close game.
Know When to Say When
“If you are asking if we, as football coaches as a collective whole, do too much, the answer is simply, yes!”
Paradise Valley head coach Greg Davis is never one to mince words.
For years he has balanced in-season, and off-season, scheduling and commitments to benefit his players and the state of PV’s program.
“I don’t work kids to death in the off-season,” Davis explained. “Expectation is that you are lifting weights, and doing your part to get bigger, faster, and stronger.
“But that isn’t a football thing, that is an athlete thing.”
He encourages his players to compete in multiple sports but fully commit to spring football requirements.
Davis believes, in the summer, less is more, and the mental recovery time is beneficial to all.
“We don’t ask football guys to play year-round,” he continued. “They need a break from us, and we need a break from them.
“I want football to be exciting and fun when they get out there, not something that becomes a tedious task.”
The Balancing Act
With success, brings opportunity.
After leading Raymond Kellis High to a combined 19-4 record the past two seasons, Ben Kullos was hired to take over O’Connor last December.
His off-season blueprint from the 5A Cougars to the 6A Eagles has remained the same, but so too have the pressures associated with juggling football obligations and time spent away from the sport.
Quite simply, the above mentioned “fine line” has become even finer.
“Football has definitely become a year-round commitment,” Kullos said immediately. “It’s getting harder and harder to avoid the pressure for kids to specialize in one sport early in their high school careers due to that increasing year-round demand.
“It’s a constant balancing act preparing a program to be in peak form by August, while also protecting players, coaches, and families from burnout.”
Every journey is walked 1 step at a time……
Just a few examples of the many who have embraced the CLIMB this spring.
Nowhere near done, onwards we push!#MTC🗻 pic.twitter.com/BG4snftB41
— O’Connor Football (@oc_football) May 22, 2025
Like Davis, Kullos supports multi-sport athletes at O’Connor, as well as the benefits they receive using the same core principles in the weight room and speed development.
“It’s about long-term development, not just short-term results.”
Listen to Learn
While communication during practices and games between coaches and players is important, the dialogue off the field is just as, if not more, crucial.
Sure, football staffs set the schedule, but including the players’ intel needs to be prioritized during the grind of the hot summers.
“It’s important we listen to the kids,” ArizonaVarsity.com’s Zach Alvira explained. “How do they feel? Do they feel tired.
“At some point, sure, it might be time to dial it back a little bit. But coaches, in Arizona especially, know when enough is enough…make adjustments based on their answers.
“After all, they know their bodies the best.”
Alvira, who played offensive tackle at Highland High, believes mid-calendar year workloads may have increased here in modern day but, for most players, the priorities remain the same as when he laced up the cleats a decade or so ago.
“I was one of those kids, grinding through brutal summer temperatures,” he continued. “I would go back and do it in an instant.
“The reward, being able to suit up and represent your school, is worth the sacrifice and pain the summer.”
In Conclusion
For several coaches in Arizona, this is a Rubik’s Cube that may not get solved between today and when fall camps open in August.
As another coach said, “There is pressure to do it all.”
“All” for some may also include summer school, summer jobs, and unforeseen events not currently marked on the calendar.
As the bar continues to be raised for Arizona high school football, what wins out: the give of letting teenagers’ minds and bodies heal, or the take of pushing them through a crowded off-season in hopes of seeing the payoff in the fall?
In a perfect world, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
But, as we know, this world of Arizona high school football is far from perfect.
