Kevin Michael is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Ironwood High School for AZPreps365.com.

It was a relatively short playing career for Ironwood head coach Tony Stillings in highschool that ended up leading to a fruitful coaching career in Arizona. Coming out of Kennedy Christian High School as a running back and outside linebacker in Pennsylvania, Stillings battled a neck injury in high school which led to his playing career being cut short. Those moments as a player still managed to mold a football mind that kept coming around even after his time on the field ended.

“Just always loving the game, I started studying it and being a part of it in any way I could. I didn’t play in college obviously because of the injury, but after that I just sort of kept up with it and as soon as college was over I got right into coaching, that was pretty much it,” said coach Stillings. 

Stillings first ran into Ironwood in 2010 under Ian Curtis, becoming the special teams coordinator, later becoming the defensive coordinator until 2017. Stillings left Ironwood after that and after bouncing around multiple Arizona high schools, an out of state community college, and taking on different roles, one thing became more and more clear. 

“It was kind of one of those things where when I left, I left to get head coaching experience, it was one of those things where I left Ironwood and I immediately regretted it just because of how great of a place Ironwood is. It’s an awesome place to work, it’s the kind of kids I like to work with. Once we moved back from Buffalo it was just me trying to get back here,” said Stillings.

Stillings came back in 2021 when then head coach Chris Rizzo offered him a spot back in Ironwood to be the defensive coordinator. In 2020, coach Rizzo also brought over now offensive line coach Jordan Light who was coaching over at Centennial High School. Coach Light also fought through injuries, like his co-worker Stillings, battling bad knee and leg injuries through a short college career where he continued to pursue his love of football through thick and thin. 

Light, just like Stillings, has rode the wave of Ironwood football to get to their newfound success, and has taken the opportunity to leave the best impression possible on those who come through the program as it rises to new heights. 

“It’s not just about making a kid a good left tackle, I want this guy to be a really good individual and I can help him do that by not just focusing on what he’s doing by saying hey praise him during the highs and work with him through the lows while discussing and practicing and really focusing on all parts of life. I think that’s what we do at Ironwood, we try to make guys into good citizens who also play really good football and work really hard,” said Light.

Andrew DiCarlo, the running back back coach for Ironwood, had the unique opportunity of a long and successful playing career, while also getting to return to his own school just a year ago. In fact, when DiCarlo was a senior, coach Stillings entered the Ironwood staff for the first time. 

“He was an outstanding player that I got to coach, and now get to work with,” said Stillings.

DiCarlo too, just like his counterparts, gets the opportunity to see his players and program grow around him every single day.

It’s cool to see kids harness that athletic ability and learn how to use it in a constructive way. It’s a fun position to watch develop, sometimes the light just comes on and they realize they’re a better athlete than the others. I imagine it’s like watching children grow, I don’t have any yet but I imagine it’s like that,” said DiCarlo.