Saguaro High School looking internally and out-of-state for next football coach
Scottsdale Saguaro begins its first round of interviews Wednesday for its next head football coach.
According to a source, two of the candidates will come from inside and others are coming from outside of Arizona.
Saguaro wants to make this as seamless as possible, after Jason Mohns left with one of the best high school programs in the nation, one that won seven state championships, including six in a row, during his 11-year tenure.
Saguaro lost to Chandler Basha 28-21 in this past season's Open Division state championship, a year after beating Chandler 20-15 for the Open state title.
These are huge shoes to fill. But Saguaro will do its due diligence to make sure the right guy is hired.
Mohns, now the tight ends coach at Arizona State under Kenny Dillingham, will have a hand in picking his successor.
If it comes inside, there are five strong candidates: Frank Ruben, Kyle Caldwell, Jim Camarillo, Mark Martinez, and Andy Johnson.
Caldwell was a high school All-American defensive end at Saguaro in 2002, later starting at Arizona State. He's been an assistant at Saguaro since 2008, serving under John Sanders and then Mohns.
Ruben, whose sons Tim and Teddy were both Ed Doherty Award winners as state championship quarterbacks for the Sabercats, served as assistant head coach under Mohns. His four sons, including Alex and Andrew, were part of four state championship teams.
Frank Ruben has been a part of Saguaro football for nearly two decades. To say he's paid his dues is an understatement.
Another internal possibility is Camarillo, who has served as Saguaro's defensive coordinator for eight years. He's been part of the Saguaro staff for 16 years. He's been an assistant coach on 12 of Saguaro's 13 state championship teams.
Martinez has served as the offensive line coach the past six years. He's built a reputation as one of the state's most reputable and respected offensive line minds.
Johnson, who was co-offensive coordinator (Mohns was also the offensive coordinator), joined Saguaro's coaching staff in 2007. He started his coaching career building up the Scottsdale Argonauts, a youth program that feeds Saguaro.
Saguaro hopes to be able to recommend a coach to the Scottsdale Unified School District by late next week.
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Saguaro HS looking internally, out-of-state for next football coach
