Jeremy Hathcock is back home in the White Mountains and loving the small-town life.
He is out of the East Valley with the big city football life behind him and the 1991 graduate of Blue Ridge is attempting to restore the program to the level of success that once dominated small school football scene, including state championships Hathcock's junior and senior seasons.
“The purest level of football is in small town America,” Hathcock said. “We don’t do year-round football here. We play for our brothers and these kids grew up wanting to be part of this program. They remember watching the games from the end zone when they were in the second grade, and now it is their turn to put on the purple and yellow.
“It’s refreshing.”
The hiring was seen as bringing back one of their own in Lakeside.
“Coach Hathcock brings almost two decades of successful head coaching experience, 15 years spent at the 6A level … and he is one of Arizona’s preeminent high school football coaches,” Superintendent Mike Wright said in a press release announcing Hathcock’s hiring in December. “We are very fortunate to land a coach with such an outstanding resume of success and someone with the Blue Ridge bloodline."
It’s a fresh start for Hathcock after spending the last 15 years coaching Desert Ridge where he took a program that could barely win a game (4-27) in its first three years to one that was a hard matchup each week because the opposition had no idea what might be coming their way with different offensive schemes and hard-nosed play.
He could have a crazy passing game one year (Kevin Pantastico threw for a then-state record 595 yards in 2008) to a hell of running game another year (Taren Morrison for 2,587 yards and 40 touchdowns in 2013). The Jaguars could come out of halftime with the offensive line going to the wide splits after playing the entire first half in regular formation.
It led to some difficult days of game-planning for Desert Ridge opponents because Hathcock and his coaching staff could make changes at any moment – like a right-handed boxer switching to southpaw in the fifth round.
It’s a little harder now that his roster (18) at Blue Ridge is smaller than some of his senior classes at Desert Ridge.
The Yellow Jackets lost the opener 20-19 in overtime to Safford, but nearly pulled it off despite the game being delayed by lightning, some injuries and off the field incident that saw two players get suspended.
“I don’t know if I have seen more tears other than at a funeral,” he said. “It’s just different up here. There is a lot of pride in wearing that hometown jersey. We overcame some adversity and almost got that win. They showed me a lot about what this team can do. We’re going to be all right.”
Hathcock, who has a 154-87 career record, is excited about the future, getting the program back to the standard of his time when Paul Moro was stomping the sidelines. The JV B team has about 35 kids and the eighth-grade team has similar numbers.
“The future looks good,” he said. “There are some new feelings, and energy around the program and that can be contagious. I like what I am seeing, and the community is incredible.”
While Hathcock, who coached Show Low to an undefeated state championship in 2003, had many reasons to return home, part of him will miss the competition of big school football provided each week in the East Valley.
With that said he didn’t like the way some of the trends were heading including when AIA ruled sports can have a year-round season and the demands that came with it, and how the transfer rule changed the way rosters were made up.
“There were a lot of reasons, but it kind of boiled down to the direction of city football was going,” he said. “Look I loved the competition and the kids, but the transfer rule and the 7-on-7 club season kind of made it a cesspool as far as how many people were moving around.
“It happened everywhere including Desert Ridge, but I want to see the growth of a young man from beginning (of his high school career) until the end.”
Another aspect that Hathcock became weary of was the pressure to work on football 365 days instead of branching out and playing other sports or have outside interests.
“There is a shame culture too, and I was guilty of it as well,” Hathcock said. “You tell kids you want to play more than one sport but then you’re also saying, ‘Ok go play baseball but someone else is getting those reps.’ It’s not good.
“Here you tell a kid to go play baseball or wrestle, and they better because they have to, so they have enough athletes to make a team.”
It has Hathcock feeling good about the decision and about what he can do at Blue Ridge with the understanding that he has some of the same beliefs as the two men – Moro and Bob London – before him, but he will do his own thing as well.
“I wouldn’t say I fall under the Moro coaching tree, but I am part of the Blue Ridge bloodline,” he said. “We have a similar value system and I believe a physical style of play and prepare the same way, but a lot of my approach will be different, and people will have to come to understand that.
“There is a great foundation that started long ago and now I am here trying to build it back up.”
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