Salpointe Catholic grad Rich Ellerson, the mastermind behind the Xs and Os of Arizona’s Desert Swarm defenses of the 1990s, is out of coaching this year for the first time since he was a graduate assistant at Hawaii under Dick Tomey in 1977. He spent last season coaching at small-school power Jacksonville University, helping one of his former players put a program together. Ellerson, 64, the head coach at Army from 2009-13, splits his time between Tucson and Rocky Point, where he pilots a 36-foot sailboat.
