East Valley veteran coaches reflect on holiday, apply experience to gridiron

Nov. 11—Veteran's Day has a different meaning for everyone who has served in the military.

Some use it to reflect on those who enlisted before them, who gave them the opportunity to choose their path to fight for the country. Some honor those who they fought or trained alongside. Others begin to think about those who will serve after them.

It's a special holiday honoring the men and women in uniform. And it becomes more special when veterans are able to share it with high school-aged kids they now coach.

"Veteran's Day is for everybody that served," Higley assistant football coach Michael Fox said. "It's not a day for free food and all that other stuff. I think people sometimes take advantage of that.

"It's a day to thank everyone that served whether it was at war or not."

Fox's military background is extensive.

He served 12 years in the United States Army before he was medically retired after undergoing three reconstructive back surgeries and two hip surgeries as a result of a vehicle explosion he was in while deployed.

He moved to the Valley and began coaching wrestling at Higley, a sport he competed in and had been involved with as a coach since he was 21. However, he felt it wasn't for him. Instead of sitting around his house, he began coaching football.

He's been a member of Higley's coaching staff ever since. It's also where he met Dustin Singletary, a Marine who served four years as a radio operator in artillery.

Together the two share stories with their players. They also extend some of what they learned in the military with them, too.

"I think it's natural at this point," Singletary said. "We have core values we live by in the military, whether it's the Army or Marine Corps. When you get out it's hard to adjust to regular people. But when you're on the football field, it's time to bring the intensity. For me, it's been easy to bring that energy, discipline and all that to practices and game days."

Like Singletary and Fox, Eastmark defensive coordinator Mike Huddleston takes what he learned from the military and applies it to coaching.

Huddleston enlisted in the United States Army shortly after the Gulf War in the early 1990s. He served in an artillery combat unit for four years.

He was never deployed, but the experience of being in the military taught him many life lessons he has since applied to himself as a teacher at Eastmark and a coach of a Firebirds football team that was the No. 2 ranked team in the 3A Conference heading into the postseason.

The most important lessons Huddleston teaches to his players is accountability and discipline. They are required to be on time. They are required to treat each other and coaches with respect.

His time in the Army gave him those lessons, and he was preparing to teach them in the military before his military career ended.

"Right before I got out, I was preparing to be a drill sergeant," Huddleston said. "Discipline, being on time, doing things you don't want to do and the physical aspect are things I got out of it. Those are things that blend from football training and military training, so I bring that out here and teach it to these guys as well."

Some of those same lessons are taught at Dobson High School by head junior varsity coach Nathan Murray and varsity running backs coach Jeff Horton, who both served in the Army.

Murray went into the reserves in 1996 and trained in Missouri before he was stationed in San Antonio, Texas at Walter Reed Medical Center. He eventually returned home to do more reserve work.

Murray admits his military experience isn't as extensive as others, but he took some of the life lessons he learned and applies them daily. That includes the Dobson football program.

"One thing the military taught me is how to take personal accountability for my actions," Murray said. "If I have good actions then that translates to my team being better because I brought my best that day.

Horton spent four years as an active member of the Army and five years with the Guard. During his time with the Army, he spent a year in Korea and over two years in Germany.

While he was never deployed to hot spots, he said his time away was an experience that allowed him to be who he is today. He still carries some of that, which includes discipline, respect and other key traits, with him every day to his job with Mesa Public Schools or to the field coaching the Mustangs.

Horton's tenure as a coach in the Valley began 20 years ago. As a veteran, he always hoped to be at a program with a strong tradition of honoring those who served. It's something many programs do across the state, whether it be in the form of special jerseys or decals on helmets.

Dobson recently swapped out the solid blue Mustang logo on the side of players' helmets for one with Stars and Stripes. It's an extension of the support for military and first responders Dobson showed earlier this season, when it honored those individuals against Perry.

"When Bill (Godsil) put us on this task to honor military veterans and first responders, that was a real big honor to be a part of that," said Horton, who was the leader in setting up the event when they played Perry. "These decals are instilling the beliefs and things I've learned being in the military and bringing that here.

"That night we played Perry, it was a tremendous event. And because of that, other schools including Perry reached out to us to get that information."

Having pride in one's country is one thing. Having school pride is another for veteran coaches.

Justin Artis, a former standout All-State defensive end played for Hamilton from 2004-08, continued his career at Adams State University as a linebacker.

He transferred back to the Valley and attended Arizona State, but quickly found out he couldn't afford the tuition. He volunteered with the Army as a military police officer and then enlisted in the National Guard with the intent of going on to continue playing football. However, that never happened.

He began coaching shortly after he began working for the Guard. He eventually found his way back to Hamilton where he now serves as the head junior varsity coach and offensive quality control coach at the varsity level under head coach Mike Zdebski.

He cherishes the opportunity to coach at his alma mater, even with a difficult schedule at times based on trainings with the National Guard. But he approaches coaching with the same mindset as his full-time job, with discipline and building character at the forefront, even while his approach is different.

"One of the first things I really noticed, organizationally, was being able to be in charge of a large amount of young soldiers. It's the same as being in charge of young men," Artis said. "It's little things like putting a bus schedule together and who is going to sit with who. Those things are very similar.

"Discipline, it's a little different. When you volunteer for the military, you know what you're going to get. Football, that's a piece of it but there's a difference in how you treat a military soldier and a high school football player."

Myron Blueford shares the same values with his players at Arizona College Prep High School less than 4 miles away from Hamilton.

Blueford enlisted in the Army in 2002 where he did one term as an Army reserve. After basic training in Virginia, he came back to Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona to finish his term. His family has a history of military service, and Blueford saw it initially as an opportunity to forego school.

He quickly realized the level of discipline it takes to succeed in the military. Simply put, it isn't for the weak-minded.

"They really do test you," Blueford said. "When I got out and got into coaching, I used that. If you have a strong mind and a strong background, you're going to be able to be successful. I use a lot of that in how I coach and how I approach things."

Veteran's Day for these coaches and several others is a chance to reflect on their service. But many choose to honor those who they lost or those who served before or after them.

It's a holiday they believe shouldn't be forgotten. And they won't anytime soon.

"It's very important to me. It's something to take the time to remember those before us and thank the men and women who go in after us," Singletary said. "It's important to remember those people who give the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the day."

Have an interesting story? Contact Zach Alvira at (480)898-5630 or zalvira@timespublications.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZachAlvira.