ALLSPORTSTUCSON.COM CONTINUES ITS 50 POSTS FOR THE 50-DAY COUNTDOWN TO THE 2025 SEASON THAT STARTS AUG. 22 FOR SOME SCHOOLS WITH A LOOK AT THE LOCAL COACHES WITH THE MOST LONGEVITY. CATCH UP WITH ALL THE POSTS BY CLICKING HERE.
SOUTHERN ARIZONA HEAD COACHES WITH MOST LONGEVITY
| Coach | Years | Current School |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Johnson-a | 21 | Mountain View |
| Scott McKee-b | 19 | Canyon del Oro |
| Carlo Hernandez-c | 16 | Coolidge |
| Justin Argaves-d | 15 | Cienega |
| Robert Bonillas-e | 15 | Desert View |
| Jay Campos-f | 14 | Mica Mountain |
| Joe Thomas-g | 13 | Buena |
| Jeston Lotts-h | 11 | Willcox |
| Braden Davis | 8 | St. David |
| Ryan McBrayer | 8 | Sabino |
| Corey Noble | 8 | Walden Grove |
| Jerry Rhoades-i | 8 | Tombstone |
| Virgil Henderson-j | 7 | Catalina |
| Ernest Ivy | 6 | San Manuel |
| George Kelly | 6 | Empire |
| Hunter Long | 6 | Douglas |
| Jake Allen-k | 5 | Sahuarita |
| Daniel Jones | 5 | Thatcher |
| Kent Middleton | 5 | Pusch Ridge |
b-Scott McKee has also coached at Sahuaro and Pueblo
c-Carlo Hernandez has also coached at Show Low and Vista Grande
d-Justin Argraves has also coached at Tucson and Mountain View
e-Robert Bonillas has also coached at Nogales
f-Jay Campos has also coached at Sabino
g-Joe Thomas has also coached at Tombstone
h-Jeston Lotts has also coached at Parker
i-Jerry Rhoades has also coached at Camp Verde and Payson
j-Virgil Henderson has also coached at Cholla and Rincon/UHS
k-Jake Allen has also coached at Pueblo
————
Matt Johnson, Robert Bonillas and Jay Campos each began their experience as a football head coach at a local high school in 2003.
Some 22 years later, they are still on the sidelines guiding the community’s youth on and off the field.
Johnson is the dean of Southern Arizona high school football coaches. He has the longest tenure of all coaches locally, with 21 years completed in his career, including the last six at Mountain View. He previously coached from 2003 to 2006 at Rincon/University, 2008 at Catalina Foothills, and 2009-18 at Ironwood Ridge.
“Just a guy trying to help kids and coaches,” mentioned the modest Johnson about being the longest tenured coach in Southern Arizona.
Scott McKee (19 years at CDO, Sahuaro and Pueblo), Carlo Hernandez (16 years at Coolidge, Show Low and Vista Grande), Justin Argraves (15 years at Cienega, Tucson and Mountain) and Bonillas (15 years at Nogales and Desert View) are the next longest tenured coaches in Southern Arizona.
Campos follows at 14, all at Sabino from 2003 to 2016. He has spent the last nine years as an administrator at Sabino and Mica Mountain, where he will resume his head coaching career this fall. He led the Sabercats to four state championship games and looks to continue that type of production after the Thunderbolts won the 4A title under Pat Nugent last fall. Nugent, the dean of Southern Arizona head coaches last season with a 27-year career, resigned after Mica Mountain’s 14-0 season.
Bonillas, a tight end who played under Dick Tomey at Arizona, coached at his alma mater Nogales in 2003 and 2004 before working as an assistant at Sunnyside under former coach Richard Sanchez (who is on Campos’ staff at Mica Mountain). Bonillas’ 13-year term at Desert View is the longest in school history, surpassing the 12 years of the school’s first coach, Humberto Federico (coached from 1985 to 1996).
McKee’s coaching career started in 2004 at Pueblo, which had not advanced to the playoffs 13 years prior to his arrival. He coached there for five years before moving on to Sahuaro, which advanced to the postseason only once in the eight years before he started there in 2009. He coached the Cougars to the playoffs in five of his first six seasons and led them to nine postseason appearances overall. He was 71-62 at Sahuaro with his best mark 10-3 in 2018. Only the legendary Howard Breinig (110-29-2 from 1983-94) had more wins at Sahuaro than McKee. After leaving Sahuaro following the 2021 season, McKee served as Dustin Peace’s top assistant at CDO in 2023 when the Dorados won the 4A state title with a 14-0 record. He took over as the Dorados’ head coach last season following Peace’s resignation.
Joe Thomas (13 years at Buena and Tombstone) and Jeston Lotts (11 years at Willcox and Parker) are the other Southern Arizona head coaches with at least a 10-year tenure.
Johnson, McKee, Hernandez, Argraves, Bonillas, Campos, Thomas and Lott are eight of the 47 Southern Arizona coaches who have been a head coach for at least 10 years.
A majority of them — 28 — have a career of four years or less as a head coach.
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
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 in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
Recommended for you
