Several months after Santa Rita High School scrapped its football season due to a lack of available players, the school is moving forward in 2023 with Douglas Smith as the Eagles’ next head coach.
Santa Rita announced on Monday that Smith, who formerly was the defensive coordinator at Dysart in El Mirage, will take over the struggling TUSD program that hasn’t won more than three games in a season since 2009.
Smith also held previous defensive coordinator roles at Phoenix Barry Goldwater and Phoenix Shadow Mountain, along with head-coaching stints for three Phoenix-area high school wrestling programs.
“I’m very excited to be named the head football coach at Santa Rita High School and look forward to building a football program that everyone associated with the school and community can be proud of every time they reminisce about their time here,” Smith said in a news release.
“We will set out to get our students engaged and excited to participate in the program and restore the soar for Eagle football. I feel I am the right guy, this is the right time, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Santa Rita, which plays at the Class 2A level, was the latest TUSD football program to not play a football season; Palo Verde forfeited the 2021 season because its roster was mostly composed of underclassmen.
Once a prominent east-side football team, Santa Rita played for a state championship in 2009 but has struggled ever since, with Kris Heavner, Jeff Pichotta, Cody House, Riki Valdez, Richard Sanchez and Tom Joseph as the most recent head coaches.
