New Ironwood Ridge coach Stott has team working hard
WEEKLY BLOG: 5/29/22
Ironwood Ridge rebounded from a 2-4 start to win four straight and make the 5A playoffs in 2021. However, the team starts over in a way as head coach James Hardy resigned from his position in January. Hardy has since become the offensive line coach at Cypress Lakes HS in Katy, Texas.
In late February, IRHS filled the vacancy and got itself a coach excited to be back in his hometown of Tucson. Dale Stott returns to the Old Pueblo most recently from Utah, where he was the offensive line coach at Pine View HS in St. George, Utah. Among the benefits of living in Tucson is getting to enjoy the beauty of the Sonoran Desert.
"I'm particularly excited about the opportunity I have to coach at Ironwood Ridge High School, which is a dream job for me," Stott said in an e-mail interview. "The kids and parents have been extremely welcoming and supportive and have made me feel at home. I am determined to make the Ridge into the premier football program in the state of Arizona."
Most of Stott's 20-year coaching career has been in the state of Utah. It proved beneficial in his career development. Look for the Nighthawks to control the tempo and play fast to prevent defensive substitutions to gain an advantage on the offensive side of the ball.
"I had the privilege of coaching with Ray Hosner, a living legend among Utah high school coaches and also Gary Crowton, former BYU and Louisiana tech head coach, and an offensive coordinator at Oregon, LSU, Maryland, and the Chicago Bears," Stott said. "My knowledge of the no-huddle fast-pace spread offense increased immensely."
Going back to his playing days, Stott was a 1976 graduate of Amphitheater HS in Tucson. The 1975 team in his senior year went 12-1 and won the state championship under Jerry Loper. Stott started at offensive tackle and played on both sides of the ball (also as an outside linebacker) during his senior year. Loper later went on to win another state title at Westwood in 1988 and was an impactful leader.
"Jerry Loper was a tremendous offensive line coach and made me very proud to be an offensive tackle charged with protecting Jim Krohn's blind side," Stott said. "Jake Rowden, my linebacker coach, was an All-American at both linebacker and center at Maryland and was also a great mentor. Neither coaches were cursors or yellers, and both instilled self confidence with their positive and fearless approaches to the game."
Ironwood Ridge's coaches got to take a first-hand look at about 70 kids (returning freshmen, sophomores, and juniors) during spring ball. Stott expects to field teams at all three levels and have 120 in the program. His takeaways from the practices were positive.
"They are hard workers," Stott said. "Good teammates, respectful, and there is a lot of talent on this team and they are hungry."
Stott will serve as the offensive coordinator and call the plays. He brings local experience on the defense with the hire of Scot Cortese as the defensive coordinator. Cortese, who was the head coach at Flowing Wells the past three years, will call the defensive alignments and stunts. Stott said he has "the utmost confidence in him as a coach".
It will be a younger Ironwood Ridge team than we've seen in recent years. The Nighthawks graduated quarterback Tyler Haynie. Jordan Thomas, who rushed for 1,000 yards as a junior, has transferred to Canyon del Oro. Of the 49 touchdowns IRHS scored in 2021, only seven were scored by (two) players that return.
Andrew Cain returns at wide receiver for his senior year. The 6-3, 185-pound baseball commit at Washington State caught 24 passes for 394 yards and scored four touchdowns.
On the defensive side, the top five tacklers last year were all seniors. Travis Rich made First Team All-5A Sonoran Region as the Defensive Utility/Flex Position as a junior. He had 40 tackles, intercepted three passes, and recovered a fumble. Rich turned three of those four takeaways into touchdowns. He also served as the team's kicker and booted 32 touchbacks and has the accuracy as well (longest FG of 47 yards).
Nasohn Jantz, is a returning 6-2, 200-pound starting linebacker and edge defender. He'll play on both sides of the ball seeing time as a running back on offense. In his junior year, Jantz had 24 tackles and five sacks.
It will be a busy month of June for the Nighthawks. The team will have competitions at Naranja Park near campus in Oro Valley (June 8-9), University of Arizona (June 13), and Walden Grove HS in Sahuarita (June 18). The Naranja Park one will feature 35 teams in 7-on-7 play. Both the UA and WGHS ones will include big man competitions. Ironwood Ridge will have a few weeks off in July before practice starts up again on the 25th.
"My expectations for the Ridge football team are that they will work hard, strive for improvement, and focus on the process of getting better every day," Stott said. "If we do that, the sky's the limit."
Reach Chris Eaton at gridironarizona@yahoo.com or DM at @gridironarizona with story ideas.
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