John Sanders just can’t help himself. Everywhere the Saguaro football coach goes, he stirs up controversy.
Two weeks ago, Sanders elected to rest his starters for the Sabercats’ regular-season finale against rival Chaparral, drawing a firestorm of criticism from community members and the local media for tanking a nationally televised game.
Last week, he allowed superlative running back D.J. Foster to run for 508 yards and 10 touchdowns in an 81-48 win over Peoria Sunrise Mountain.
On Thursday night, in the fifth-seeded Sabercats’ Division II quarterfinal game at No. 4 Queen Creek, Sanders showed up minus defensive coordinator Jon Turoczy amid rampant rumors that Turoczy had been fired after the Sunrise Mountain win.
Sanders declined to comment on the situation, but Turoczy’s absence from a playoff game was an obvious sign the rumors had some truth.
We may never know the reasons why Turoczy was dismissed or decided to leave. Maybe the reason was legitimate.
You can also make the argument that Sanders did nothing wrong the previous week in a game that was decided by 33 points – hardly the type of unconscionable blowout we’ve seen from other schools on all too many occasions.
You can even make a case -- as former Saguaro, Gilbert Mesquite and Gilbert Highland coach Mike Reardon did -- that Sanders made the right call in resting his starters against Chaparral.
The playoffs are, after all, the point and goal of the regular season.
I have immense respect for Reardon, who attended Thursday’s game. He’s a straight shooter, he’s a logical thinker and he has a big heart. If this were college or pro football, I would agree with him wholeheartedly. But I believe high school football is more about community. I believe parents and players should fully back such a decision. The Saguaro community was not 100 percent behind Sanders’ decision in the Chaparral game; it was closer to a 50-50 split.
If each were an isolated incident, it would be easy to brush it off with time. But the entire package makes you wonder about Sanders’ perspective -- or lack thereof. Football coaches are notorious for being so thoroughly ensconced in their own program that they fail to either see or consider other viewpoints.
Though the circumstances differ dramatically with Penn State’s Joe Paterno and Ohio State’s Jim Tressel -- circumstances we don’t mean to diminish by comparison -- the underlying issue is the same. Too many coaches think they run the show on, off and all around the field. When they fail to consider other perspectives, it smacks of arrogance and self-absorption, and it often leads to a downfall.
If Saguaro wins the Division III title in two weeks, the predictable storyline in multiple publications will be how the Sabercats overcame obstacles. The sad reality is that those stories will miss the greater point while fueling some coaches’ long-held belief that winning cures everything.
whodatsaberdat posted at 11:41 am on Sat, Nov 12, 2011.
It's only a story because you haters are trying to conjur up anything you can think of to make it a story...for goodness sake, instead of focusing so much of your hatred at coach sanders why not write a story about accomplishments of kids. the way all of these beat writers...(bordow and co.) you would all have coach sanders hung at london tower and beheaded if you could...
maybe since it is veteran day weekend maybe lay off of the hatred kool-aid for just one weekend and leave the guy alone.
How about focus some more attention to the neverending story of recruiting in high school and how it ruins the aia...or the lack of regions and how if kids don't get either a region championship chase or all-region selection possibilities that an entire season's worth of blood, sweat and tears make it hard to hang your hat on...there's only 1 trophy, we need regions for benchmarks for hard work these kids go through.
The way it is now is recruit all disgruntled/kicked out players/parents from outside your school borders and aim your all-star roster at the title...
Maybe even an article about the ties that bind, like how Foster's great accomplishment to own the td record and surpass Nathan Wize was cool also in the fact that some of those td's Wize had was in fact as a former sabercat that left after helping mike brown and co. win the title for saguaro back in the mid-90's...that could've been mentioned...but then again it'd actually take a little effort on your parts to overlook your anger towards an extremely talented football team and their coach...
good luck to all teams remaining in the playoffs who play with students who actually live in their own school zone (i.e. not craparral)
[wink][wink]
TMan43 posted at 2:41 pm on Sat, Nov 12, 2011.
Nice comment whodatsaberdat! I agree, lets get off the beat Sanders and Saguaro kick. Saguaro did not want and did not play Chaparral because corrupt individuals forces the game on them in order to destroy their chances at state this year. If you investigate the motives behind scheduling this game then your anger can be channeled in a different direction. In case you haven't noticed Desert Vista in Division 1 is in the state semi-finals, a team that Saguaro had on on ropes and just barely beat Saguaro. They're not afraid of Chaparral, they just didn't want cheap shot to ruin their run to the state championship. This game was orchestrated by Coach Ragle, Chap boosters, and others behind the scene as a was of getting back at Saguaro for the beat down in the state championship game a few years ago. Keep up the great work Coach and focus on bring back the gold!
sss posted at 7:01 pm on Sat, Nov 12, 2011.
Let's see. Craig Morgan works for Fox Sports AZ. They were caught with egg on their faces when Sanders warned them what he was going to do on week 10. In their infinite wisdom they not only decided to stay the course when warned but made the game a national broadcast. Craig, did you decide to write this latest bash or did you foolish bosses put you up to it. Coach Turoczy's removal was a long time coming. I promise you that. When the boss tells you to do something and you directly refuse then you risk removal. Simple. It happens all the time. It is not controversial even if you wish it to be. Perhaps the producer at Fox should have been removed for airing a game that was exactly as advertised.
85296guy posted at 9:23 am on Tue, Nov 15, 2011.
I love how people in the media and community think they have a right to be involved in the decision making aspect of football teams. Sanders is the head coach. He makes the decisions. The media, community, and parents can all just sit back and shut up. YOU ARE NOT THE COACH!!!!!! You don't do any game planning, off-season work, nothing. Let the coaches coach. I am sure we can find a great number of people walking the streets who can write an article and cut someone down.