Paul Moro, legendary coach, feels reborn at Poston Butte

• Paul Moro will greet about 50 varsity players when practice starts Monday
• About 80 Poston Butte players attended camp without a football player in California
• Moro won 13 championships at Blue Ridge%2C including last season

There are wide-open spaces beyond Poston Butte's football field in growing San Tan Valley.

Paul Moro surveys the land and envisions in 10 years a field house beyond one end zone and a swimming complex beyond the other.

"I'm right where I'm supposed to be," said Moro, who is among 47 high school football coaches in the state starting over at new digs this season.

He'll greet about 50 varsity players Monday evening for the first official practice leading to a Week Zero Aug. 22 opener at Queen Creek.

Poston Butte lost its final six games last season after starting 3-1.

Moro was brought down from the White Mountains, where, for 30 years, he built the greatest small-school football program in the state, leading Lakeside Blue Ridge to 13 state championships, including an improbable one in his final season last year in Division IV.

There is a rebirth of sorts for Moro and the Poston Butte players, about 80 of whom went to the California beaches for a camp without a football earlier this month but faced the most difficult conditioning workouts of their lives, the kind of work that should pay off in fourth quarter of games in September and October.

The players and coaches rolled into camp at 2:30 in the morning, got all situated by 3:30 and were up at 5 that morning for a workout.

"From that point on it was move, move, move, fight through it," senior safety/receiver Hayden Brimhall said. "We can't worry about exhaustion.

"He doesn't want us to fall apart in the fourth quarter. He wants us to be able to play all out from the first play to the last."

Senior linebacker/fullback Chris Musselman called Moro "crazy passionate" about football, like a kid at the first day of school eager to take on the day. Moro is finding how much more fun it is to have twice as many coaches to help him at a bigger school and how many more options he has with twice as many players.

If Moro, 62, is winding down a long, incredibly successful coaching career, it doesn't show.

Poston Butte Principal Tim Richard calls Moro the only person he knows who outworks him, "and he's twice as old as me," Richard said.

Moro said he'll get to his job at 6:30 in the morning and sometimes not leave until 9:30 at night.

Nothing slips through the cracks.

The first thing he noticed was that Poston Butte's lone weight room wasn't nearly big enough. He found a large room that leads to the football field that was being used as storage. He is turning that into a second weight room that will be used mainly for lower-body workouts. The original weight room will be used for upper-body workouts, he said.

Moro isn't just a football coach. He was hired to start sports academies that are similar to what Chandler Hamilton has. It will be for not just football but other sports, helping initially the freshmen get in two hours extra work for their sports.

Poston Butte, a Division II football team, has the potential to become Hamilton Southeast.

He got the Florence district to look into getting a fairway mower, reseeding the main football field and huge practice fields that were once rocky terrains. He said lights will go up for the practice fields so that all three programs can have night practices to get away from scorching temperatures.

His room is decorated with a long passage from Vince Lombardi and eight framed Blue Ridge football photos.

Moro purposely left space on the wall open for future Poston Butte players photos and accomplishments.

But he's not counting wins right now.

He's fixing attitudes, teaching responsibility, making football fun and giving the kids memories that will take them well beyond high school.

Wins will come.

And championships?

It's all about baby steps now. Moro, feeling recharged, appears to be the right man for this undertaking.

"I don't tell the parents how many games we're going to win," Moro said. "What I told them is that your kids are going to work hard, and they're going to be responsible. That's what's going to help them. We're going to hold kids accountable, responsible."

List of new head football coaches in Arizona for 2014 season (list courtesy of Matthew Pinnick):

Amphitheater: Jorge Mendivil. Replaces Brandon Willard.

Apache Junction: Vance Miller. Replaces Dave Aoyagi.

Basha: Gerald Todd. Replaces Bernie Busken.

Betty Fairfax: Dylan Winemiller. Replaces Kevin Belcher.

Blue Ridge: Jake Belshe. Replaces Paul Moro.

Boulder Creek: Brandon Willard. Replaces Dan Friedman.

Buckeye: Kelley Moore. Replaces Bobby Barnes.

Buena: Frank Valdez/Brice Birmbeck. Replaces Ryan Scherling.

Cactus Shadows: Mike Hudnutt. Replaces Greg Davis.

Camelback: Justin Watson. Replaces Brandon McNutt.

Chaparral: Conrad Hamilton. Replaces David Huffine.

Cholla: Virgil Henderson. Replaces Laurence Ruhf.

Coconino: Jeremiah Smith. Replaces George Moate.

Copper Canyon: Shawn Kemmer. Replaces Rick Mey.

Coronado: Mike Olson. Replaces B.J. Pasquel.

Corona del Sol: Cory Nenaber. Replaces Tom Joseph.

Douglas: Riki Valdez. Replaces Levi Salazar.

Flagstaff: Robbie Rusconi. Replaces Eddie Campos.

Gila Ridge: Tyler Kosel. Replaces Tom Hurt.

Kingman: Greg Tonjes. Replaces David Ward.

Marcos de Niza: Sean Morin. Replaces Roy Lopez.

Maricopa: Chris McDonald. Replaces Cory Nenaber.

Mesa: Scott Hare. Replaces Kelley Moore.

Nogales: Kevin Kuhm. Replaces Vince Villanucci.

North: Bernie Busken. Replaces Bob Chappelle.

North Pointe: Jeremy Brigham. Replaces Richard Lucero.

Palo Verde: Laurence Ruhf. Replaces Matt Willard.

Paradise Valley: Greg Davis. Replaces Donnie Yantis.

Phoenix Christian: Stefan Demos. Replaces Brandon Harris.

Poston Butte: Paul Moro. Replaces Mike De La Torre.

Pueblo: Brandon Sanders. Replaces Adrian Koch.

Raymond S. Kellis: Shawn Copeland. Replaces Jason Golden.

Red Rock: Ken Selle. Replaces Rick Walsworth.

Rio Rico: David Rastovski. Replaces Kevin Kuhm.

Rincon: Lucius Miller. Replaces Virgil Henderson.

River Valley: Mark Ruckle/Paul Duchaineau. Replace Terry Staggs.

Santa Rita: Cody House. Replaces Jeff Pichotta.

Scottsdale Christian: Chuck Gibbs. Replaces Kevin Allen.

Scottsdale Prep: Jake Barro. Replaces Will Munsil.

Shadow Mountain: Brock Farrel. Replaces Gary Cook.

Shadow Ridge: Ray Karvis, interim. Replaces Rico Tipton.

Sierra Linda: Ross Crow. Replaces George Burgess.

Tanque Verde: Jeremiah Johnson. Replaces Jim Lawwill.

Trevor Browne: Chris Crockett. Replaces R.C. Helton.

Westview: Joe Parker. Replaces Jeff Bowen.

Wickenburg: Carson Miller. Replaces Craig Johnson.

Willow Canyon: Joe Martinez. Replaces Michael Hudnutt.