These 7 Southern Arizona high school football teams have new coaches

Most of these coaches are veteran presences in Southern Arizona, having coached at multiple schools around the area for the majority of their careers.

Here are the seven tackle football coaching changes to track in and around the Tucson area this season.

5A

Chris Determan, Sierra Vista Buena

The second-most experienced head coach in Southern Arizona in career tenure, only preceded by Mountain View’s Matt Johnson, Chris Determan makes the move to the helm of a budding Buena program after serving as assistant for the last three years. Before Buena, Determan coached at Benson from 2003-21, manufacturing a record of 144-85-1. He led the Bobcats to two 2A state title games in 2015 and 2020.

In his time at Buena as an assistant, Determan served as a quarterbacks and defensive backs coach while also working with the special teams under head coach Joe Thomas, who made the jump to Casa Grande this offseason after 11 years with the Colts.

"This is probably the most excited I have been for a football season all four years and Coach Determan has a lot to do with that," Buena senior receiver Tariq Howard said. "I'm excited for a new style of play that he has implemented and I really think it could be a special year."

Buena has made the 5A playoffs each of the last three years, including a second-round appearance in 2024. The Colts were eliminated in the first round last season by Mountain View.

Brian Brindley, Flowing Wells

Brindley is the first of two coaches on this list who have returned to coach at their alma mater. He is also one of three coaches in his first-ever head coaching gig.

Brindley graduated from Flowing Wells in 2016 and attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, pursuing a degree in journalism at ASU. Ultimately, he found his way back to Flowing Wells after he graduated in 2020 to coach and teach physical education. He served under former head coach Brian Hook, Brindley’s offensive coordinator when he was a Caballero. Current Flowing Wells athletic director Mark Brunenkant was Brindley’s head coach when he was in high school.

“I bleed blue and gold, (Flowing Wells) is my favorite place to be,” Brindley said. “I couldn’t be happier to be head coach.”

In four years at the 5A level under Hook, the Cabs went 19-22, with a 7-3 playoff campaign that ended in the first round against Phoenix Mountain Pointe.

4A

Greg McKinstry II, Empire

No stranger to taking a challenging coaching position, Greg McKinstry II joins an Empire program that went 3-7 in 2025 after back-to-back 6-4 seasons in 2023 and 2024.

McKinstry broke onto the Tucson coaching scene in 2021, taking over the program at Catalina High after the Trojans failed to field a team in 2020. Catalina lost 16 straight games over McKinstry’s first two years before a resurgent 3-7 season in 2023.

In 2024, McKinstry jumped ship to Catalina Foothills, replacing Daniel Sainz, the Falcons’ coach since 2021. Sainz had to step down in 2024 due to time constraints from serving in the United States Air National Guard. McKinstry’s one-year tenure with the Falcons resulted in a 2-8 showing before Sainz returned in 2025.

George Kelly, McKinstry’s predecessor at Empire and head coach from 2019-25, hired the former Catalina and Catalina Foothills coach as his defensive coordinator. Kelly resigned after the 2025 season, resulting in McKinstry inheriting the position.

Kelly coached the Ravens to a 24-38 record from 2019-25. The school’s most recent playoff appearance came under WT Jeffries in 2017 — a first-round pounding at the hands of Queen Creek Casteel.

David Nunez, Rincon/University

Like Brindley, Nunez’s new gig at Rincon/University is his first time serving as a head coach.

New to the Tucson area, Nunez previously made stops at Yuma Kofa, his alma mater, where he worked under former head coach Pablo Cota during the Kings’ near three-year losing streak between 2022 and 2025, as well as Phoenix Tolleson.

Before coaching high school football, Nunez was a graduate assistant at NAU and UNLV.

Johnny Chan was the Rangers’ head coach the past two seasons, winning just four games in 19 tries. Khyree Copeland preceded Chan from 2020-23, also winning just four games with 28 losses to boot as the Rangers slid from 5A to 4A for the 2023 season.

2A

Keith Edwards, Catalina

Another massive coaching challenge for a new hire is the task of bringing the Catalina Trojans back to speed under new head coach Keith Edwards.

Edwards has been on the Trojans’ staff under the previous three head coaches, coming aboard as a part of McKinstry’s staff, before staying on with Andy Fetsis in 2024 and Virgil Henderson in 2025.

The Trojans have not secured a winning season since a 6-4 campaign back in 2007, before all of their current players were born.

Most recently, the Trojans went 3-6 this past season, beating Santa Rita, NFL Yet Academy and Coronado.

Zach Davila, Desert Christian

The newest football program in Southern Arizona, Desert Christian is poised for a bounce-back season in its second year at the 2A level after a 3-6 introductory campaign. The Eagles have appointed three head coaches in their three years of existence, with Tucson native Zach Davila the latest to take the top step.

Davila was an offensive lineman at Cienega and went on to play college ball at Utah before returning for a one-year stint as the head coach at Catalina in 2015, recording a lone win on a 1-9 season over Santa Rita.

From 2016-18, Davila headed up the Rio Rico program, coaching the Hawks to an 8-22 record. He then traversed up Interstate 19 to Walden Grove, working under Corey Noble with the Red Wolves until the job at Desert Christian emerged this offseason.

Cam Gaddis, Santa Rita

Santa Rita’s Cam Gaddis has taken on one of the most difficult turnaround tasks in Arizona high school football.

Santa Rita’s last win came on Oct. 15, 2021, a 40-6 dismantling of Catalina at home. Since then, the Eagles have lost 31 straight games. It’s a stark contrast to the era of football Gaddis played in when he was a student-athlete at Santa Rita.

In Gaddis’ varsity tenure from 2007-09, the Eagles won 34 games and lost just six, making two consecutive 4A Division II State Championship appearances. The No. 6-seeded Eagles fell to No. 1 seed Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep in 2008. As a No. 5 seed in 2009, Santa Rita fell to No. 2 Glendale Cactus.

Since Gaddis’ senior season, the Eagles have accumulated an 18-113 record over 16 years across nine different head coaches. From the outside looking in, taking over a team that has so much turnover across the last two decades is a daunting task.

The former Tucson Sugar Skulls player has served as an assistant coach at multiple Tucson programs, but Gaddis sees his first head coaching opportunity as a fresh one with little pressure.

“I didn’t look at the job like it was (a death sentence). I looked at it like there isn’t any expectations,” the first-year coach explained. “If I go in here and win some games, that says a lot. If I don’t win some games, that doesn’t say anything because they haven’t really been winning games. There’s no pressure. The principal gave me full rein to come in here and change the program and do what I do.”

Gaddis has been battling Santa Rita’s dwindling enrollment but has the program’s numbers up compared to years past after making immediate changes to the culture.

“The numbers are better; they’re responding and adjusting to the culture change, but it’s about getting everybody onboard,” Gaddis said. “We’re doing better than what they’ve done in the past. That’s all you can ask for.”