Culture and experienced coaching staff have led to smooth transition at Chandler
December 5, 2019 by Connor Morman, Arizona State University
Connor Morman is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chandler High School for AZPreps365.com
The clock at Sun Devil Stadium hit triple zeroes. One year ago, the scoreboard read Chandler 65, Perry 28. The Wolves, led by now four-time state champion head coach Shaun Aguano, had capped off a third consecutive state championship in dominant fashion.
A little over a month later, Aguano was back working at Sun Devil Stadium, this time as Arizona State football’s new running backs coach.
Aguano had been coaching at Chandler for over 20 years, beginning as an assistant before becoming the head coach in 2011. In his eight seasons as the head coach, Aguano built a dynasty, winning four state championships in five seasons.
Surprise and sorrow filled the Wolves locker room following Aguano’s departure.
“We were all surprised because we thought he was going to come back and lead us to another state championship,” senior offensive lineman Neamiaha Magalei said. “But we were all happy for him. Over here, it’s a family and when he got that new job at ASU, we were just happy he was able to go to the next level.”
The Wolves were left without a head coach, but the program hadn’t skipped a beat.
Aguano’s replacement came in the form of offensive coordinator Rick Garretson. With his familiar assistants at his side, the Wolves are 12-0 heading into the Open championship game Saturday against Saguaro.
Garretson’s familiarity with the program and the rest of the coaching staff helped his case for a promotion. But he also he also fit one of the biggest criteria of what the new coach of Chandler football should look like.
“Our biggest thing was looking out for our kids and to make sure the program keeps progressing as it has and building that structure of family, that structure of teamwork, character, things we talk about on a consistent basis,” Culver said.
The transition has gone smoothly. The Wolves picked up right where they left off in part because of the culture Aguano left behind. Chandler football has been built on the idea of family, teamwork and character, which is summed up in one word, Ohana. Players and staff knew that culture wasn’t going to be changed with a different head coach.
“That’s what Chandler is all about,” senior linebacker Tate Romney said. “We play for each other and that’s what Ohana culture really means here. To keep that here was everything. We weren’t going to let one coach change that.”
The idea of Ohana, which can be traced back to Aguano’s Polynesian roots, applies both on and off the football field.
“At the end of the day, it’s always more than just football,” senior safety Gunner Maldanado said. “It’s a way to open up doors for a lot of us, a way to have another family away from home, a lot of mentors away from home in these coaches.”
Garretson and his staff understood how difficult it was to build that culture and wanted to make sure it was a part of the program going forward.
“Those guys worked hard at creating that culture and once you have it, you don’t want to let it go,” Garretson said. “They took control of that and put those things together and were able to keep that tradition and keep that culture going forward. It’s a huge part of what we wanted to do, obviously it’s imprinted on our stadium and our walls and our locker room.”
Garretson has an experienced coaching staff by his side. That staff has remained largely unchanged from the past five seasons.
“The staff that I’ve been on here is just unbelievable,” Garretson said. “We’ve been through so many championship games and bowl games. Having that experience, I can tell you without it, we never would have been able to come back and win a game like we did at Hamilton… I’ll put that staff that we have here at Chandler up against anybody in the country.”
Having such an experienced and successful coaching staff eliminated the worry of the players having to buy into a coach’s program.
“We’ve won four of the last five state championships,” Garretson said. “The same guys are here. The same guys are making the calls. It’s not my first rodeo. They already know the success and the preparation that comes with the knowledge and the experience of this staff.”
“They know what they’re doing, every coach here,” Romney said. “They have a lot of great experience. They’ve just done a really great job coaching us and not really changing anything, doing what we’ve done in past years.”
Where Garretson and his staff excel is in preparing their players for Friday nights. Garretson has always preached preparation and the importance of being ready for any situation that may present itself on the football field, an idea first brought about by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
“You want to place your players in situations in practice, pressure them,” Garretson said. “You can see us going against each other (in practice), it’s not like everybody’s just walking off. You’ve got pressure, you’ve got blitzing, you’ve got stunts, all those different things that can take place in ballgames. We want to put our kids in those areas before they actually get to them on a Friday night so that on Friday night, things are moving slowly for these guys.”
Preparation for Friday nights often includes some introspection. With access to technology and drones, Garretson’s team learns more about themselves and sharpens its skills before a game.
“We study ourselves,” Garretson said. “We study ourselves during the week. We study ourselves in games, on both sides of the ball, so that we can cut down on certain tendencies and things of that nature. Ultimately, the kids are ready.”
Garretson finds satisfaction in seeing his team’s preparation and hard work during the week translate into success on the field. His players acknowledge the effect this coaching staff has on their development.
“None of us would be the players we are today without these coaches,” Maldanado said. “We have our hard times, but at the end of the day, they want the best for us. They’ve coached in a lot of big games, so when we get to big games, we have full trust in them and what they’re preparing us for.”
One of the goals of a high school coach is to send their athletes to college. Chandler has had no shortage of football players graduate and go on to play college football.
Garretson believes a talented roster breeds competition, which only further prepares his players for a college atmosphere.
“Competition is the main ingredient of what we do here,” Garretson said. “Some people like that and some people don’t. You know someone is always over your shoulder waiting to take your place. That’s exactly how it is in college.”
The ultimate goal of Garretson and his staff is to develop his players into young men ready to live a life after football.
“Ultimately, we want our kids to do the right thing,” Garretson said. “They’re young adults and sometimes they make mistakes. What’s important is that they learn from their mistakes and move on, learn to be a young man. Soon they’re going to be in the real world and that allows you to be a great dad and husband and be able to move yourself forward in life.”