Former Sahuaro and Arizona standout receiver Jay Dobyns announced via Twitter on Saturday that he is resigning as head coach at Tanque Verde after a successful three-year run at the once-dormant program.
Dobyns was 15-9 at Tanque Verde, including a 5-6 record this year in a season the Hawks finished in the first round of the 2A state playoffs. The 15th-seeded Hawks lost 32-0 at No. 2 Morenci on Friday.
It was the first postseason in Tanque Verde’s 16 years of existence. In his three years with the program, Dobyns surpassed the win total the program achieved in the previous eight seasons (14-66 record).
— Tanque Verde Hawks Football (@HawksVerde) November 5, 2022
Dobyns has a background of coaching in the Tucson Youth Football & Spirit Federation and at Salpointe, where his son Jack was a standout tight end.
“It has been wonderful coaching youth and high school sports in Tucson for 25-plus years,” Dobyns wrote in his statement. “Much of the ‘wonderfulness’ I’ve enjoyed is due to all the people who touched my life in so many positive ways.”
His letter also thanks Salpointe, opposing coaches and media members for making “my life better every day you were in it.”
“The wins, losses, ups and downs, will fade over time,” he added. “It is the relationships that will last.”
Dobyns’ longtime friend and coaching associate John Williams, who graduated from Sahuaro with Dobyns in 1980, has mentioned to me that he intends to join the coaching staff at Sahuaro next season after serving as Tanque Verde’s defensive coordinator the last three seasons.
The Cougars are coached by Al Alexander, who was on the staff at Salpointe under Dennis Bene with Dobyns and Williams. Bene has served as the offensive line coach this season for Alexander at Sahuaro.
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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. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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