Andy Litten, a former Mountain View standout offensive lineman who went on to walk on at Arizona in Dick Tomey’s last season with the Wildcats in 2000, is back to being a head coach after leading the Marana program from 2012 to 2017.
Litten has been hired by Scottsdale Horizon as its new coach after he spent the last three seasons as the offensive coordinator for powerhouse Chandler Hamilton. The Huskies went 3-7 in his first season in 2018 but improved to become an Open Division program the last two years going 9-3 in 2019 and 8-2 this season.
“I’m really excited to become a head coach again,” said Litten, who took over a moribund Marana program and led the Tigers to a 36-28 record in his tenure. “Being at Hamilton the last three years was really helpful for me to develop as a coach and learn the differences here in the Valley.
“I feel like my experience turning Marana around and my experience helping Hamilton recover from a rough period has really prepared me for challenges that I could encounter in the future.”
Litten took over a Marana program that won four games in four years and had a 14-game losing streak at the time of his hire. He coached the Tigers to back-to-back 9-3 seasons in 2016 and 2017. A postseason win over Kellis in 2016 was Marana’s first playoff win in 15 years.
While at Marana, he developed the Tigers into one of the top offenses in the state. His development of quarterback Trenton Bourguet enabled Bourguet to become a preferred walk-on at Arizona State. The Sun Devils recently presented Bourguet with a scholarship entering his junior season.
As a junior in 2017 — Litten’s last season with Marana — Bourguet completed 144 passes in 233 attempts (61.8 percent) for 2,984 yards with 38 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.
Litten, who earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Arizona in 2004, moved to Chandler in 2018 after his wife accepted a nursing position in the Phoenix area.
I’m truly blessed and excited to get things started at Horizon High School as the new head football coach. I look forward to meeting with players coaches this week. Go Huskies! pic.twitter.com/xjWZC4s00d
— Andy Litten (@litten_andy) January 31, 2021
He is the 46th former Arizona athlete to become a current head coach. He joins former Wildcat softball standout Jackie Coburn at Horizon. She has coached the softball program there since 2013.
“I’m really blessed that Horizon has such a strong culture with great talent and enthusiastic alumni that want to see the program see success at the highest level,” Litten said.
Litten said he is thankful and “lucky” to work with local legendary coaches Wayne Jones, Paul Schmidt and Gary Minor earlier in his career.
He played for Jones at Mountain View and later was a coach on his staff. He also coached for Schmidt at Mountain View. When Litten was the head coach at Marana, he brought in Minor, who built Ironwood Ridge into a power from scratch, as the defensive coordinator.
Minor is now a member of Kent Middleton’s veteran staff at Pusch Ridge.
“(Minor) was very helpful as a mentor for a new young head coach,” Litten said.
FORMER ARIZONA ATHLETES WHO ARE HEAD COACHES
List of head coaches of various sports and different levels who competed at Arizona. Compiled by AllSportsTucson.com.| Name | UA | Team | Sport | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adia Barnes | 1995-99 | Arizona | Women's hoops | 2016 |
| Heidi Bomberger-Bruschi | 1993-97 | Attleboro (MA) Feehan HS | Volleyball | 2020 |
| Matt Brase | 2003-05 | Pallacanestro Varese (Italy) | Men's hoops | 2022 |
| Robert Bonillas | 1995-98 | Desert View HS | Football | 2012 |
| Tod Brown | 1990-94 | New Mexico | Baseball | 2022 |
| Casey Candaele | 1979-82 | Buffalo (AAA) Blue Jays | Baseball | 2021 |
| Jackie Coburn | 2002-05 | Scottsdale Horizon HS | Softball | 2013 |
| Clark Crist | 1977-80 | Pulaski (VA) River Turtles | Baseball | 2021 |
| Debby Day | 1989-91 | Cal-Lutheran | Softball | 2002 |
| Shelley Duncan | 1999-2001 | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA) Yankees | Baseball | 2023 |
| Byron Evans | 1983-86 | South Mountain HS | Football | 2020 |
| Terry Francona | 1977-80 | Cleveland Indians | MLB | 2013 |
| Tanya Farhat-Villarreal | 1994-97 | West Bend (WI) Slinger HS | Softball | 2015 |
| Brenda Frese | 1989-93 | Maryland | Women's hoops | 2002 |
| Kristie Fox | 2004-07 | UNLV | Softball | 2017 |
| Margo Geer | 2011-14 | Alabama | Swimming/Diving | 2020 |
| Chip Hale | 1984-87 | Arizona | Baseball | 2022 |
| Jason Hisey | 1988-91 | Canyon del Oro HS | Baseball | 2019 |
| Jack Howell | 1983 | Tri-City (A) Angels | Baseball | 2021 |
| Krista Humphreys | 1993-96 | Corona (CA) Centennial HS | Softball | 2015 |
| Mark Keel | 1979-82 | Silverdale (WA) Central Kitsap HS | Football | 2000 |
| Steve Kerr | 1983-88 | Golden State Warriors | NBA | 2014 |
| Andy Litten | 1999-03 | Scottsdale Horizon HS | Football | 2021 |
| Hunter Long | 2013-15 | Douglas HS | Football | 2019 |
| Caitlin Lowe | 2004-07 | Arizona | Softball | 2022 |
| Brandon Manumaleuna | 1997-00 | Lawndale (CA) Leuzinger HS | Football | 2020 |
| Jennifer Martinez-Walls | 2008-09 | Abraham Baldwin (GA) JC | Softball | 2017 |
| Craig McMillan | 1984-88 | Santa Rosa (CA) JC | Men's hoops | 2000 |
| Richard Mercado | 2002-04 | Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei HS | Baseball | 2019 |
| Leighton Milton | 1992-93 | Hollywood (CA) HS | Football | 2020 |
| Edwin Mulitalo | 1995-98 | Southern Virginia | Football | 2018 |
| Ronnie Palmer | 2005-08 | Monterrey Peninsula (CA) JC | Football | 2020 |
| Jose Portilla | 1996-97 | Heritage Academy | Football | 2017 |
| Rebekah Quiroz | 2002 | Pima CC | Softball | 2019 |
| Colt Sedbrook | 2006-08 | Crown College (MN) | Baseball | 2024 |
| Jason Stewart | 1997-99 | Encinitas (CA) San Dieguito HS | Boys hoops | 2014 |
| Damon Stoudamire | 1992-95 | Georgia Tech | Men's hoops | 2023 |
| Rafael Valenzuela | 2008-10 | Bowling Green (A) Rays | Baseball | 2023 |
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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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