Sedona Red Rock High School is again looking for someone to lead the program. On the morning of Tuesday, April 7, coach Bob Young informed the school that he was resigning as the SRRHS head coach after only one season.
For Young, the decision ultimately came down to numbers. When he started with the Scorpions last year, he did so with the intention on bringing more athletes into the program, which has long struggled in that area. Unfortunately for Young, the number of athletes didn’t grow. In fact, the numbers actually decreased. When he saw that happening, Young felt that resigning was a necessary step to save the program at the school.
“There’s a disconnect somewhere — I just wasn’t able to get more kids involved in football,” Young said. “We had to try something different and to me, I thought that we could save the program.”
“The administration was fantastic — very supportive,” the coach added. “I feel really bad that we only did one year. To me personally I feel like I let them down because I wasn’t able to get the numbers up and that’s why I came in. Sedona’s been struggling to get their numbers up for years and they went the other way. Maybe they need to find someone younger who can relate to the players a little better.”
The numbers — or lack thereof — is the biggest issue that Young faced in his time at Sedona. The Scorpions had just over 20 players when the regular season began. At the season’s conclusion, they had only 14 active players, which caused Young to worry that they might have to forfeit some or all of the season’s last three games. While that didn’t happen, the issue has only worsened since the end of the season.
Young noted that prior to the school being shut down due to COVID-19, there were only eight to 10 kids in the offseason weight program — roughly one-third of the number that he and his assistants were hoping to have.
“I made a big push in the offseason to get our numbers up,” Young said. “I thought once I got to the building that I’d be able to get the numbers up. But it wasn’t there. I’d be sleepless at night trying to figure out how to round up 15 more guys. I said that I would give it until spring break. Basically that was it.”
Something that will potentially hurt the numbers is Sedona moving soccer back to the fall. Young noted that as a PE teacher for the middle school, a number of incoming freshmen were set to play both sports, something that will not be possible with them now being played in the same season.
Young also stated that a number of good athletes attend Sedona. Unfortunately for the football program, a number of them either choose not to play the sport or their parents won’t allow them to participate due to its inherent danger.
Another blow during Young’s tenure came in January when the Arizona Interscholastic Association unanimously voted against Sedona’s appeal to move to Division I, which would have meant playing 8-on-8 football. SRRHS Athletic Director Don Burton said that one of the next steps will be to contact the AIA again to see if that decision can be revisited.
“We’re going to contact them again about 8-man football,” Burton said. “Bob did a tremendous job. He’s a tremendous coach and a great guy. We hate to lose him but I understand the situation.”
Young is uncertain of what he’ll do next. He said that he wasn’t interested in being a head coach again at this time, though returning to coaching as an assistant is a possibility.
“I worked my tail off this last year and failed to get to a point where the numbers got up,” Young said. “I’m sure I’ll have an opportunity to be an assistant somewhere but we’ll see what happens. [I’m] enjoying time with my wife and enjoying not having to worry about putting a team together in the fall.”
In Young’s one year at SRRHS, the Scorpions went 2-8 overall, 2-7 in 2A Conference play and finished fifth out of six teams in the 2A Salt Region, going 1-4.
As far as what’s next for the program, Burton said that he posted the listing on the AIA website on Tuesday morning. By Wednesday morning, eight or nine people had already applied. The Scorpions are also looking for a new coach for their girls volleyball team, which reached the quarterfinals of the state tournament in the fall.
While Young’s tenure with the Scorpions was short, he left a big impression on the players that he coached.
“I wish him the best, of course,” said Francisco Bekele, who played as a receiver and defensive back under Young during the 2019 season. “I’m kind of sad to see him go because next year will be my senior year and I really liked him as well as his assistants. I’m sad to see him go. I am optimistic about next season. With incoming freshmen and other kids at the school, I think hopefully we’ll do better.”
