Jeff Scurran returns to high school coaching, will run Rio Rico's program

Jeff Scurran, who has coached Tucson prep football teams to 251 victories, the second-highest total in city history, is returning to coaching.

The 74-year-old Scurran will become the head football coach at Rio Rico High School effective next week. He will also be a full-time teacher/counselor at the school.

A three-time state championship coach at Sabino High School in the 1990s, Scurran was also the first head coach in Pima College football history. He last coached high school football at Catalina Foothills in 2017 and has since coached professional teams in Germany on two occasions.

Rio Rico went 0-8 this season and has had four football coaches since its last winning season, in 2013.

“I missed it,” Scurran said Tuesday. “That’s probably the biggest thing.

“It’s what I do and who I am. I felt like there was part of me missing.’’

Scurran’s choice to return to coaching with a winless program isn’t anything new. After leaving Sabino in 2000 and Pima College four years later, he subsequently was hired to coach after an 0-10 season at Santa Rita and an 0-10 season at Catalina Foothills. He coached both schools to state championship games.

He was hired by Rio Rico school district superintendent David Verdugo, who was a player on Scurran’s first high school football team in Tucson, at Canyon del Oro in the mid-1980s.

“I still think I have a lot left to contribute,” said Scurran. “When David approached me about the job, my wife, Joan, and I had a real serious discussion. We were both eager to get involved in the teaching and counseling program. I’ve always been a serious educator and look forward to getting back to that role.”