Ray Brown, the head coach, spent 20 years in the NFL. Phil Bates, the offensive coordinator, was with the Seattle Seahawks in 2014. O’Brien Schofield, the defensive coordinator, won a Super Bowl ring with the Seahawks in the 2013 season. Will Davis, a defensive assistant, spent four years in the NFL.
DeAndre Roberts, another coach, played at Kansas State with Jeremiah Dorest, another coach, at Clemson. And a third, former Arizona State running back Ryan Torain, spending four years playing in the NFL.
This is most of Arcadia High School’s football staff, maybe the most NFL-experienced staff in all of Arizona high school football.
And the young Titans, feeling they have a shot in 4A to not only reach the playoffs but do something special, are soaking in every piece of advice they give as they prepare for their Sept. 2 opener at Peoria.
“We’re going to teach and encourage every one of our athletes,” said Brown, a former Arizona Cardinals assistant coach. “The strength of this football team is us and we. Individuals who do us things and we things, that’s what we’ve got over here.”
Brown stepped in during June 2021 when Arcadia moved on from Vance Miller after the COVID-19 2020 season. Miller’s only team went 1-7. He is now leading Gilbert Mesquite’s program.
Grant Sanders, an Arcadia alum, was the junior varsity head coach who had Brown and a few of the former NFL guys on his staff. When Miller left, all of those guys, including Sanders, moved up to varsity. Sanders is now the assistant head varsity coach and special teams coordinator.
Brown was 5-5 in his first season last year.
This should be the year, the Titans believe.
“We have some seniors who have bright futures beyond football,” Brown said. “We’ve got some juniors. We’ve got some (future) college athletes on our team. It’s my goal to nurture them and steer them to become college athletes.
“I have wonderful resources. They extend from high school, college and the NFL. As long as I’ve been an NFL player, I’m going to be an ex-NFL athlete, I’m going to be an ex-NFL coach. So my conversations are going to be with NFL coaches, high school coaches. The transaction is happening over here. If it’s about football, it can be had over here.”
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Arcadia’s talent pool starts at quarterback with a battle in the offseason between junior Rocco Mortensen and sophomore Braylen Rooney. Both have abilities and size — Mortensen is 6-foot-3, 207 pounds, and Rooney is 6-3, 185 — that could have them starting at a lot of schools.
They have a big weapon to throw to receiver Brady Forst.
“I was very excited when Coach Brown took over the role,” Forst said. “He brought a whole new level of passion to the program. I told him last year, after the success we had with so many young players, I said, ‘Coach, we can go to state.’ He said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’
“He brought in a new strength coach. Everyone can agree this past offseason was significantly better.”
Arcadia stayed away from the June 7-on-7 passing tournaments, and locked in on themselves, getting stronger and working together as a team.
As good a year Mortensen had last year, passing for 1,841 yards and 17 TDs with 16 interceptions, Rooney has been pushing him in practice. Rooney had more than 30 touchdowns last year in the lower levels.
“We’re having good competition,” Rooney said. “We’re building each other up and not tearing each other down. We’re good teammates.”
Mortensen welcomed the competition. He knew he needed to improve on his varsity experience and recognize defenses better.
“Just be more confident,” Mortensen said. “(Coach Brown) gives a lot of organization and life lessons.
“The assistant coaches have a lot of knowledge and they teach us good stuff.”
Brown wants the program to improve organically.
“I have one vision, but it takes everyone else buying into this,” Brown said. “We can do it over here in a special way. This is my first time on a high school campus. I’m following the AIA rules and those SUSD (Scottsdale district) rules.
“We can win within the rules, and I’m glad to be over here coaching.”
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at [email protected] or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.
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