Richard Sanchez, who coached Sunnyside’s football and boys wrestling programs to state championships and has helped Mica Mountain reach state titles in football and girls wrestling, will be inducted into the Arizona High School Athletics Coaches Hall of Fame on April 27 at Glendale.
The ceremony, which will include the induction of five Phoenix-area coaches, will be held at Arrowhead Country Club from 1 to 5 p.m.
Sanchez is one of the most successful coaches at the high school level in Southern Arizona history. He has coached football and wrestling for the last 42 years.
He coached most of his career at Sunnyside, dating from 1981 to 2010.
After assisting legendary Sunnyside wrestling coach Don Klostreich from 1981 to 1989, Sanchez became head coach in 1990 when Klostreich resigned.
Sanchez also coached in the Blue Devil football program as an assistant from 1981 to 1990. He became head coach in 1993.
During his head coaching career at Sunnyside, his teams earned seven state championships — five in wrestling and two in football. The Blue Devils’ football team reached the state championship game four times under Sanchez, winning in 2001 and 2003. His 2001 team was the first in Sunnyside history to win a title.
The Sunnyside football team’s overall record was 158-58 during Sanchez’s 18-year tenure. He also had head coaching stints at Santa Rita and Tucson High — with both of those programs struggling mightily before his arrival.
He is 162-86 in 22 years as a football head coach.
“Anybody can go coach a good team,” Sanchez to AllSportsTucson.com in a recent interview. “The idea as a coach is to build the program, not a team. … It’s no good to win a couple seasons or one season because you have the star athletes, and then after that, they’re gone. That’s not coaching. Coaching is building a program and sustaining it for years.”
Sanchez also won eight state championships as a wrestling assistant coach.
In the past three years, Sanchez has served as an assistant football coach under coach Pat Nugent at Mica Mountain, where he coaches the offensive line.
Last fall, the Thunderbolts went 14-0 and won the 4A state championship — the first title in the school’s brief history (doors opened in the 2020-21 school year).
He also helped coach Mica Mountain’s girls wrestling team to their first state title in February.
He has earned region coach of the year honors as well as division coach of the year honors several times in both wrestling and football.
In 2001, he was named Barry Sollenberger Prep Magazine Coach of the Year, and in 2003, he was selected the Arizona Republic Coach of the Year.
During his coaching tenure, Sanchez served as president of the Arizona Football Coaches Association (AzFCA) in 2002-2004. He coached the All-Star football game in 2002 in the only all-star game in which the 4A played the 5A team with the 4A squad winning.
He has also served on the AzFCA board and conducted many youth football camps and coaching clinics.
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