What started as one large white cloud covering the afternoon sun soon led to dark skies. Eventually, rain began to fall in the distance.
Then came the wind.
Powerful gusts started threatening to bring the monsoon storm to Pima College’s West Campus.
The Aztecs practiced on. There was no time to waste.
In June, the Pima Community College board voted to shutter the football program after the 2018 season. The decision came after Maricopa County officials voted to end the sport at their four schools.
As a result, Wednesday marked the program’s final first practice. The Aztecs looked sharp.
“I think there’s less rustiness shown from different players,” said Brooks Ringer, a quarterback transfer from Southern Utah. “A lot of guys are stepping up, being leaders, and new guys are also not afraid to speak up. We’ve still got a ways to go, but we came out and we practiced hard. That’s all we can ask for.”
Jim Monaco wraps up the evening with a talk to his players at the first practice of the final season of football at Pima College.
Coach Jim Monaco has always held his teams to high standards, and he said he won’t change heading into the final season.
“The expectations I had for players today, I think they pretty much carried them out,” Monaco said. “In all honesty, some of the kids and some of our big boys that came in and looked like they were a little out of shape, they were still doing what they needed to do.”
Defensive lineman Tony Fair said he — and the rest of the team — will be extra motivated to perform this season. Fair is a Pima success story: A native of South Bend, Indiana, Fair moved to Tucson to play football and eventually received major-college offers. He verbally committed to Nebraska two weeks ago.
Defensive lineman Brandon Maddox has offers from Indiana, Toledo and Western Kentucky. Arizona also is interested.
“Coach Monaco and the whole coaching staff, they really wanted to go all out,” Fair said. “Everything they’ve got going on, they said, maybe we can keep the program if we fight. I’m not even going to be here (next year), but I’m going to fight because I love them.”
Fair isn’t the only Aztec headed for bigger things. Defensive lineman Brandon Maddox received an offer from Indiana just hours before the Aztecs’ first practice. It was a major victory for third-year player coming off a torn ACL. Maddox credited the Aztecs’ coaching staff for helping him on and off the field.
“Coach Monaco has bent (over) backwards for me,” Maddox said. “I know I was the one to put all the work (on the field), but his word was really what got me the offer from Indiana. It’s really what got the Indiana coach to really trust who I am as a player.”
Pima’s final season doesn’t seem to have driven players away. The Aztecs dressed 116 players for their first practice, dozens more than usual.
Defensive lineman Germaine Carmena hits the sled. A total of 116 players showed up for the first practice, dozens more than usual.
The roster will shrink over the coming months. Pima has 52 airline tickets booked for players for its Nov. 3 game at powerhouse Snow College in Utah. Shrinking the roster from 116 to 52 isn’t as hard as it sounds, Monaco said.
“In all honesty, most guys cut themselves,” Monaco said. “And then you have a kid that just works his tail off and wants to stay and do something special. But then we’ll have a group that’ll do some things. We won’t truly cut guys away.”
Fair said he loves that type of competition.
Running back Paul Gallegos takes a handoff. The Aztecs’ first game is Sept. 1 against Eastern Arizona College.
“Everybody around here is competing,” Fair said. “I have a chance of losing my spot — and I committed to Nebraska — but it’s OK because I like that. If there’s no competition, we won’t be good at all.”
Monaco said he liked what he saw in Wednesday’s practice. The Aztecs will try to keep their momentum going as they prepare for their Sept. 1 opener at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher.
“A lot of these young kids, they were amazing where they were. They were the guys lifted on everybody’s shoulders,” Monaco said. “And now, like I told them today, like the John Wooden thing, talent is God-given; be humble. Faith is man-given; be grateful. And conceit is self-given; be careful. Like I told them today, if you’re great at something, you got to know you had a whole bunch of help to get there.”