High school football: Salpointe, defending 4A champ Canyon del Oro, others have new head coaches in '24

At the start of last year’s high school football season, the big lingering question among Tucson-area teams: was this the year a Southern Arizona team breaks the region’s eight-year state title drought?

It sure was, as Sabino (3A) and Canyon del Oro (4A) each won championships.

As a new season starts, the top topic seems to be around the numerous local programs that have new head coaches this season — nine in the Tucson area, plus Rio Rico, including some prominent programs.

New Canyon del Oro head coach Scott McKee, who replaced Dustin Peace after he won his second state championship with the Dorados last December, thinks part of it is the sacrifices coaches have to make.

“Well, I just think it’s hard. I mean, I think when a coach looks down at his paycheck and it’s $2,800 to do this for 12 months straight and you get the stuff from parents, you get the stuff from administration, you got all the new requirements with concussions and heat baseline and locker room stuff,” McKee said, “it just wears a guy down quick and if you don’t have success early, a lot of those young guys are bailing. There’s very few of the older guys out anymore and that’s kind of a sad thing.”

New Salpointe head coach Pat Ryden said you see a lot of turnover in the Tucson Unified School District, where he taught for 30 years.

MaxPreps recently ranked CDO and Salpointe as two of the state’s most dominant programs of the last 20 years, yet both schools will have new sideline generals in 2024.

Tucson Unified School District campuses will also see four job changes this year.

McKee was a head coach at Pueblo for six seasons and then 13 years at Sahuaro before taking a job as an assistant for Peace.

“I loved every day I was a Cougar, and I love every day that I’m a Dorado. It’s just different,” McKee said. “There’s different support here; there’s different commitment from kids; there’s different resources that we didn’t have before.

“The kids at Sahuaro played extremely hard for us and it was pleasure to coach them,” he added. “This is a program where you can win a championship at because there’s a line from the administration to booster club and at other places it may be that with the booster club and the players but maybe not the administration. It’s a harder fight in TUSD for sure.”

Meanwhile, Ryden took the Salpointe job after coaching for over 30 years, including two as head coach at Rincon/University. He has coached at Flowing Wells, Santa Rita, CDO and Pima College before taking a role as defensive coordinator at Salpointe for four years.

Being a private school, Ryden sees Salpointe’s ability to entice students with its academics, religious community and athletics.

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“We had great kids at Rincon/University years ago and I think the difference is obviously at Salpointe there is a lot of really good athletes here,” Ryden said.

Last year at CDO, McKee helped with the defense, offensive line and “anything” else that was needed as the Dorados went 14-0.

“We enjoy it. He’s super involved in practice ” CDO defensive end Evan Greer said of the team’s new head coach. “He’s always bouncing around, always excited and it just brings up the team’s morale.”

Salpointe senior linebacker Thomas Regina said players love the discipline Ryden brings to the team, and during the day, he serves as the Catholic school’s Dean of Men.

“He’s always around and keeps us in check, even in school, so that’s always good,” Regina said.

At CDO, Peace had planned to retire, McKee said.

“We had talked about it, but I was still trying to get him to come back. There’s nothing wrong with being an assistant coach for Dusty,” said McKee, who went to Sabino and played in college for the nearby Arizona Wildcats in the early 2000s. “But he’s taking care of his kids and his wife. Boy, he’s got a great life and he put everything he’s got into the program and one day when he’s ready to do it again, he’ll be back.”

Ryden, who went to Flowing Wells, said a lot of people were surprised when previous Salpointe coach Eric Rogers resigned early last December.

“When it finally opened, the guys that had been here — we talked about it and was just too good of an opportunity to pass and so here I am,” Ryden said.

Rogers is reportedly now an assistant coach at Chandler Basha, according to AllSportsTucson; his son Jake is a sophomore quarterback with the Bears.

In reference to the coaching changes this year, Ryden praised Peace and McKee. He coached with Peace for seven years.

Last year, when informed Salpointe had lost in the state semifinals after the Canyon del Oro won, Peace himself was saddened to hear that news, a sign of the coaches’ deeper connections.

“Scotty’s gonna do a great job there,” Ryden said.