Amphi coach Jorge Mendivil shared on Thursday, at the Wings Over Broadway High School Preview Show, the background of how his successful coaching career started in 2000 at San Manuel.
“Warner Smith, a San Manuel grad, was on our Flowing Wells staff … and he said, ‘I have the perfect place for you,'” said Mendivil, who began his coaching career under John Kashner at Flowing Wells.
“I said, ‘Really, where is that Warner?’ He said, ‘San Manuel.’ Lo and behold, I get a call from their principal and their superintendent. I interviewed a week later and got the job at San Manuel at 27, not quite knowing what I am getting into but at the same time it was something that I wanted to do.”
Almost 20 years later, Mendivil is one of the most successful coaches in Southern Arizona thanks to what the late Smith — a former Arizona standout — saw in his potential.
After coaching at San Manuel from 2000 to 2004, Mendivil coached at Empire, opening that school in 2006. He moved on to Amphi in 2014 and has built his career record to 100-82 along the way.
The Panthers (2-1) play at Flowing Wells (0-3) tonight.
Here is the video of our interview with Mendivil taped at Wings Over Broadway:
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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