'This is where I'm needed': Tempe football moves to small-school ranks under new coach Sean Freeman

Three coaches in three years. No wins the last two seasons. A move down into the small-school ranks for the first time.

Tempe High School football is starting over, as is coach Sean Freeman, who is getting a second chance in being a head coach. His contract wasn't renewed by Glendale Copper Canyon in 2019 after leading that program for two years and three wins.

Freeman and Tempe have much to prove as they get ready for the 2022 season, playing in 3A.

Tempe hasn't had coaching stability since Brian Walker stepped down following an 0-7 2020 COVID-reduced season. The previous season, Walker had led the Buffaloes to a 7-4 record that included a 4A state playoff berth.

But a year after Todd Hanley came down from Flagstaff and Tempe recorded an 0-8 season, the school is starting over again with another coach.

This time, Freeman hopes to stick. He's dug in and didn't hesitate to lay down some laws, including making sure everybody cleans up after each other in the weight room and locker room and takes accountability, pride in every thing they do.

"I'm a competitor at the end of the day," Freeman said. "I knew the situation coming in. But this team has a lot of talent. This team has a lot of heart. I saw that this summer. In our 7-on-7s. Our big mans. The thing that got me here is that the administration really wants somebody to be here. The community wants somebody to be here. I feel like this is where I'm needed."

Any rebuilding efforts starts with senior athlete Bryan Stroughter II and junior tight end/defensive end Kam Jackson.

They are the heart and soul of the rebuild. They embrace it.

"We're trying to get back to who we used to be," said Stroughter, a playmaker at wide receiver and cornerback who has a college offer from Wisconsin-River Falls. "Coach Freeman has really shaped us into a better program. We expect a lot coming into this year."

Stroughter, 6-foot, 172 pounds, said he's tried to get the word out for athletes at the school to come out for football.

After last season, it was hard.

"It was always tiring to always get a new coach and players leaving because our old coach left," Stroughter said. "Coach Freeman has helped the summer program a lot. He has a special connection with all of the kids. He has a special connection with me. It's making all of us better."

Jackson, 6-4, 190, also plays basketball. He'll try to use his size to be a matchup problem for defenses in 3A. He has good hands and will go up for the ball to make plays. At defensive end, he's aggressive and quick enough to make it tough on quarterbacks.

Jackson said communication is the key to rebuilding.

"Communication and team building," Jackson said. "At the end of the day, football is football so I don't look at the division too much."

Tempe is the oldest of the six Tempe Union High School District schools and now the only one playing in the small-school ranks. With the drop down to 3A from 4A, Tempe loses the McClintock rivalry, which has been among the best in the state since the 1970s. McClintock remains in 4A.

Marcos de Niza is in 5A with Mountain Pointe, Corona del Sol and Desert Vista all in the highest conference at 6A.

Tempe opens the season Aug. 19 at Phoenix Shadow Mountain, which also has struggled and moved down from the big-school ranks for the first time.

Coolidge, Wickenburg, Phoenix Carl Hayden, Payson, Fountain Hills, Chandler Valley Christian, Tucson Palo Verde, Phoenix Christian and Phoenix Arizona Lutheran all are on Tempe's schedule. Arizona Lutheran moved up from 2A after winning its first 11-man state title last season.

Tempe last won a state title in 4A in 1996 when the Buffaloes went 14-0 under coach Tim McBurney.

The school is rich in football tradition.

But ending a 15-game losing streak is foremost on the Buffaloes' minds.

"I think this year is going to be that year," Jackson said about returning Tempe back to prominence. "We've been communicating and becoming a family."

Freeman saw what Nate Gill did at Phoenix Sierra Linda, turning a program around that had become used to losing. The team finished 8-2 last year and Gill was named The Arizona Republic's Coach of the Year. He now is getting ready for his first year leading Desert Vista.

Freeman believes Tempe can do the same thing.

"We'll get back to where we need to," Freeman said. "We'll build that. But knowing people know that I'm here. I'm going to be a fixture in the classroom. Everybody sees me in Tempe. I'm always repping Tempe High School. I think our guys see that and they're going, 'This guy is really about it.'

"I'll hold the flag and I'm running with it.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tempe football starts over in small-school ranks for first time