As expected, Chris Determan is the new head coach of Buena High School’s football program.
Determan (pronounced Dehd-er-man) was the varsity assistant head coach with the Colts under Joe Thomas the last three years. He will replace Thomas, who was hired as Casa Grande’s head coach in December after coaching at Buena for 11 years. Thomas mentioned at the time that Determan was a shoo-in to replace him as the Colts’ head coach.
Determan joined the program after serving as head coach at Benson for 19 years. He compiled a 144-85-1 record from 2003 to 2021 and took the Colts to the 2A state championship games in 2015 and 2020.
He coached the quarterbacks, defensive backs and coordinated special teams as part of Thomas’ staff at Buena.
“I have known of coach Determan since 2003 and I met him in 2007,” Thomas stated. “He is an all-around great guy, friend and coach. His coaching history speaks for itself.”
Determan, 52, has been a head coach for 21 years overall (he also coached two years of nine-man football at South Dakota in 1996 and 1997). He found out about the head coaching position in Benson at a 2003 job fair, where he met Benson’s brass for an interview. He and his family traveled from South Dakota to Benson sight unseen to take the job when he was only 30.
His coaching contract at Benson was not extended in 2023 after the school district’s administration demanded he change his run-oriented hybrid Wing-T offense into more of a modern passing attack.
As quarterbacks coach at Buena, Determan has coached prolific-throwing quarterbacks Kaleb Layton and Nash Moore.
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