Older coaches tackle the year-round grind

Steve Axman was a walk-on last year at the age of 69.

After 46 years of coaching – all but the first five in the college ranks – he walked on at Gilbert Perry High a day before its opener and asked if he could help coach the football team.

Preston Jones gladly welcomed Axman’s knowledge. How could he say no thanks to the man who helped mold the careers of future Super Bowl quarterback opponents Troy Aikman and Neil O’Donnell?

Axman didn’t take a penny last year when he worked with quarterbacks and helped with the offense. But the great return was to see a junior quarterback, Brock Purdy, go from nowhere on the map to AllArizona, despite missing the first three games last season due to mononucleosis.

The passion was back, and Axman felt he was ready to lead a high school football program at 70.

There was nothing wrong with his resume.

Axman coached at 15 colleges. He led Northern Arizona University from 1990-97 with his ’96 team going 9-3, averaging 43 points a game and setting or tying 14 national records. He was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UCLA in 1987, when Aikman ranked second in the nation in passing efficiency.

He was O’Donnell’s quarterback coach at Maryland in 1989, before O’Donnell went onto fame leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to Super Bowl XXX against Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys.

But Axman, who spent the first five years of his long coaching journey in the high school ranks at Douglas MacArthur in Long Island, N.Y., spending one year as a head coach, had no takers this offseason.

He put his name in at two high schools in the Southeast Valley, not far from where he lives.

He had an interview at one school, he said. Another never called back.

“It’s an individual thing,” Axman said. “There are coaches who are 45 going on 50 and they are burned out. Some are in their late 60s and have as much fire as anybody else. It depends on the makeup of the individuals.

“Does he still have the love and passion for the game? I say, ‘Hey, grab some of

those guys and let them in.’ ”

Jim Rattay won seven state football championships, starting in 1976 in Ohio. But it appears he won’t be leading a team for the first time in 31 years after stepping down at Laveen Cesar Chavez in December after nine mostly successful seasons.

Only a handful of wins away from reaching Tempe Marcos de Niza coach Paul Moro’s state-record wins total, Rattay wanted to be closer to his grandchildren in Scottsdale. But the few vacancies that opened up in the northeast Valley went to younger coaches.

Moro, 65, led Lakeside Blue Ridge to 13 state championships, before taking over the Poston Butte program in San Tan Valley three years ago. He was 7-4 his first season, but an 0-10 season following the death of his son in 2015 took a toll on Moro, who resigned.

Then, after time away, Moro realized how much he missed having his own team, and got the Marcos de Niza job. Last season, Moro broke former Tucson Amphitheater coach Vern Friedli’s state record for career wins.

Now Moro is trying to keep Marcos’ program together, despite assistants leaving and players transferring.

He said this summer he had 50 players in the entire program.

“I love coaching, I love the kids,” he said. “As long as they keep listening. You can’t go from zero to 10 right away. I guess you could. I’m not capable of that. You have to have a better culture, better discipline and work harder than last year. Then you have to do it again, and again. Then, three or four years down the road, you have the culture needed to buy in.”

But even young coaches’ flames are burning out by the year-round grind with short-lived careers.

“We’ve made high school sports a year-round endeavor,” said Jim Ewan, 67, who has led programs at Eloy Santa Cruz, Glendale Mountain Ridge, Chandler and most recently Mesa Westwood. “We don’t give kids and coaches a break.”

Ewan said he has heard Jones talk glowingly of Axman but believes his age may be working against him.

“We’ve kind of perpetuated the myth that it’s a young man’s game,” Ewan said. “Every kid is not going to relate to every style of personality. The more styles you have the more kids should be able to relate to everyone on the staff. The problem is you have too many young guys. Sometimes they won’t speak their mind. The veteran coach has probably seen enough and experienced enough to speak up.”

Ewan has settled into a new role this year at Arizona Western College in Yuma, as a receivers coach, calling coaching fun again as “a cog in a wheel.”

Larry Fetkenhier feared the game would pass him by. But with more than 300 wins, Fetkenhier is preparing for his 33rd season leading Glendale Cactus’ program.

“I can’t speak for other coaches, but for me I keep trying to coach smarter and find ways to make my players better people first and better players second,” Fetkenhier said. “They will only be in high school a few years, but will be a man, a dad, and a leader in their community for the rest of their lives.”

Jared Ryan, Mesa Red Mountain’s principal, elevated defensive coordinator Mike Peterson to head coach in the offseason.

He said he feels older coaches aren’t prejudiced against, believing they’re capable of adapting to the changing scenery and challenges.

“If anything, veteran coaches should have that same advantage,” Ryan said. “They understand the game. They are familiar with every scheme in the book and some choose to evolve and connect with our community in the way needed to be successful.

“Culture leads to student-athletes having buy-in, both to the vision of the program and to one another. If a coach can’t provide a positive culture, the numbers in the program will decrease, belief in the program will evaporate and community support will disappear.”

Axman feels it is important to have a mix of younger and older coaches on staff.

“I was taught by Larry Smith at Arizona that it was important to have the old wise bull on the top of the hill, and the young buck down at the bottom that is full of piss and vinegar and fire and doesn’t have a lot of experience,” Axman said. “And maybe coaches in-between, who are ready to move up the ladder.

“When I was hiring coaches, I wanted some solid experience at the top, fire-ballers and in-between guy to move up my own program.”

Axman’s inability to land a headcoaching job is Perry’s win. He’ll continue to help in the development of Purdy and add his touches to what could be one of the state’s best offenses.

“Hiring seasoned coaches adds another dimension to a football coaching staff,” Preston Jones said. “They have wisdom and a level of patience that some younger coaches don’t have. It’s a win-win: both coaches and players benefit.

“Coach Steve Axman’s expertise and personality have had an immeasurable positive impact on the Perry football program. There’s no substitute for experience.”

Thurmond Moore, who has no desire to be a head coach, was one of those inbetween guys on Axman’s staff at NAU. He helped Chandler win a state title three years ago as defensive coordinator and is now the DC at Phoenix Brophy Prep.

He feels Axman has earned his shot at leading a high school program.

“It’s a shame,” Moore said. “How do you turn a guy like that down? The funny part is, when you give a guy like that a chance, the older guys, they’ve brought back programs to be respectful. I’m surprised they don’t look at that. There’s a reason people built resumes.”

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/ azc_obert.