Mica Mountain defensive coordinator Brett Darling, who has earned the Frank Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year Award for Arizona the last two seasons when the Thunderbolts won state titles, has confirmed that he has resigned from his position and will remain at the school as a social studies teacher.
Darling spearheaded a Mica Mountain defense that helped the Thunderbolts win the 4A state championships in 2024 and 2025, only the fourth and fifth full seasons as a varsity program since the school opened in the 2020-21 school year.
He was Pat Nugent’s lead assistant coach dating to their time at Cienega together and remained on Jay Campos’ staff this year after Nugent resigned following a 14-0 season in 2024.
“There’s just nothing better than coaching high school football these last 23 years, especially the last 10 with coach Nugent and last year with coach Campos,” Darling mentioned to AllSportsTucson.com. “Putting kids in the right position to be successful on Friday nights has been absolutely incredible.
Well-deserved honor: @MicaMountainFB defensive coordinator Brett Darling (@Riggo4456) earned his second consecutive Frank Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year Award for Arizona in a ceremony at Oaklawn Hot Springs, Ark., last night. The Thunderbolts had five shutouts and allowed… pic.twitter.com/K9ZZKlCsFe
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 14, 2026
Diego Rivas, Mica Mountain’s cornerbacks coach last season, will take over as defensive coordinator.
Mica Mountain had five shutouts to its championship in the fall. The Thunderbolts allowed only 104 points all season, an average of 7.4 points a game.
Phoenix Arcadia was 13-0 entering the state championship game at Arizona State’s Mountain America Stadium. The Titans scored a season-low 17 points in the Thunderbolts’ 42-17 victory.
Mica Mountain totaled 91 tackles for loss last season, including 36.5 sacks, led by New Mexico-bound linebacker Broden Schmidt (159 tackles, 18 for loss) and defensive end Najean Anderson (18 sacks).
The Thunderbolts also had 18 interceptions with safety Nic Regina’s four picks and three each by safety Riley Carson and cornerback Blake Beltz.
In the 2024 season, his defense, loaded with talent including defensive linemen Jimmy Leon and George Flores, Schmidt and safety Riley Carson, was one of the most dominant in the state.
The Thunderbolts had four shutouts among the 11 games in which the opposition scored only one touchdown or less.
“The things that I’m most proud of is being part of two Tucson legends getting their first championships,” Darling noted about Nugent and Campos. “Also, getting to represent Southern Arizona at the Frank Broyles Award ceremony. Southern Arizona football gets looked down on sometimes and there are some great football programs, coaches, and players down here. I was proud to represent them at a premiere event.
“But most of all was seeing young men reach their goals. Having high school young men leave our program and go live out their dream at the next level is just an incedible feeling. I’m super proud of those players and getting to be apart of their journey.”
Darling, an American Government teacher, credits his early development as a defensive coach with the tutoring of legendary Amphi assistant coach Ed Roman — who Darling came in contact with when he started teaching at that school in the early 2000’s after earning a degree in education at Southwestern College (now known as Arizona Christian University).
Darling became a more complete defensive coach working with young up-and-coming coaching talent Jeff Bollnow, who was the defensive line coach at Cienega before becoming the Tanque Verde head coach before the 2023 season.
“I got to work for some really great defensive coaches,” Darling said in a 2024 interview with AllSportsTucson.com. “Ed Roman … the first three years of being in Tucson, back in the early 2000s, I got to work with Vern Friedli and Ed Roman. Some of the things that they did, really old-school, but just the little things you learn from that. …
“On top of that, I was really blessed to work with Coach Bollnow. … I learned more football — he’s 10-15 years younger than me — but I have tons of respect for him. Learned quite a bit of football from him, little ways of doing things. I was a run-stopper, a run-fits guy. What I learned from him is a lot of the coverage stuff and different looks we do and stuff like that. He’s an incredible coach and I learned quite a bit from him.”
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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 in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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