Skyline coach Pete Jonovich was informed that his coaching contract will not be renewed for next season.
Jonovich was told of the move on Friday, and though he understood the wins and losses were a significant factor in the school's decision, he was confused by the relatively late timing behind the school's decision. He'll continue to teach at the school the rest of this year, and perhaps beyond.
"It's the way and life of a football coach these days," he said. "They thought it had to go in a different direction."
Asked if he had any idea this was coming, he said: "Absolutely not."
Shortly after learning of his fate as football coach, he'd already fielded a couple calls from other schools gauging his interest in being an assistant, but noted most head coach vacancies from the past six weeks have already been filled.
"You wish you would have known to have a chance at some of those," he said.
Jonovich has coached for 21 years between San Carlos, Globe and 11 seasons at Skyline. Skyline's last winning season was an 8-4 campaign in 2008 (the school's only season with a playoff victory). It was a second consecutive winning season while the school was in the Pima Region of 5A Division II.
Skyline moved to 5A-I in 2009 and the new Division I in 2011, but the Coyotes were a combined 6-26 the past three seasons. Jonovich arrived at the school in 2001 from Globe and was 36-79 overall in his 11 seasons at the school.
"I feel like I was given a fair shake for the time I was here," he said. "We only had 1,400 kids the first two years I was there in the (formerly) East Valley Region. We were pretty successful early on, made some good strides, and have some good kids coming back next year. I feel like in reality I had a good shake. Everyone would like to win more but you take what you're given. We weren't going to try and pull kids away from other schools. That's just not me."
Mark Heller is the East Valley Tribune sports editor. He can be reached at mheller@evtrib.com or (480) 898-6576.
Irons1 posted at 10:46 am on Sun, Feb 12, 2012.
What absolute bull. This is another example of parents wanting to run the coaching staff. Pete was a great example of someone who was there for the kids
Bteezy posted at 12:19 pm on Sun, Feb 12, 2012.
This is a long time coming. Wins do matter even at a high school level. Winning 2 games a year, except when you were put into a lower division is not good enough. Coach Jonovich, was great at being your buddy. As far as being a football coach things fell short. This is not a matter of parents running a staff. This is a matter of an Athletic Director doing what should have been done 4 or 5 years ago. Not having kids is not an excuse for not winning, schools with smaller enrollment figures are winning just fine. The problems on Jonovich's staff are rooted much deeper than anyone realizes. He has a below average staff with a school security guard as one of his coaches. His good friend was his defensive coordinator who was out of his element trying to coach at this level. When assistant coaches don't know the playbook as well as the kids, then that becomes a problem. For years he refused to change his offense to suit his players. He demanded to run an option offense with big linemen and when he did have a quarterback who could throw and receivers who could catch he refused to throw. When practices are organized no better than pop warner practices, then that mentality spreads and is like an infection. Coaches were hardly on the same page, how could players be asked to be on the same page. The program and Jonovich became lax because he knew he had a safety blanket in some members of the previous administration. Of course kids loved playing for Coach because playing for him it was fun, you were rarely held accountable, you were playing for your friend as a coach. However, for a player that likes to win and wants to become a better player this is a change that was needed. I do wish Coach a lot of luck. He did leave an impression on many of us through the years. Unfortunately, those impressions weren't on the football field.
Irons1 posted at 5:05 pm on Sun, Feb 12, 2012.
Baloney. You know not what you speak of. None of what you have said is even close to the truth. You are the real thing that is wrong with high schools sports. It is about the kids and it shouldn't be about the wins. The kids are what matters, not the ex-jocks in the stands who want to live through their kids. There are way to darn many of them in charge of things in MPS. Your kid is not going to get a sports scholarship, live with it.
BINGO posted at 7:18 pm on Sun, Feb 12, 2012.
All of this is absolutely crazy. Jonovich was the best coach to any child that has played football at skyline highschool. You all say that he was just a "nice guy" yet he knew nothing about the game of football. Guess what? He played football all in highschool and college. Not to mention the 20 something years of coaching expreience that he has. Sure you say hes a terrible coach now, but back when he was leading his team into the playoff games he was some type of hero. The way the administration handled this shows exactly why skyline is the way that it is. Its because we have a bunch of stupid people running the school. Sneaking around, lying, and assuring Jono that he would be the coach next year only to tell him that hes not. This is an excellent example of the poor leaders that are at Skyline now. I'd like to say thankyou, to the administration for letting Coach Jonovich go, because it was the best thing that could have happend to him. He has better things he could be doing at better schools than waste his time coaching at a school where the parents complain because their child isnt the best, well sorry to those parents but welcome to reality.
AG posted at 8:11 pm on Sun, Feb 12, 2012.
Bteezy,
its funny you mention a below average staff, that a security guard had to coach. You forgot to mention who that coach is, its my brother, Coach Ken Polamalu. He worked magic with kids that were the size of other teams wide recievers, but he never complained, he just coached with what he had. This below average coach, had the only Division 1 prospect to ever come out of that program for football in Justin Addie. This same coach was the one who spent his weekends walking around strip malls seeking donations for the football program so that kids wouldn't have to spend money to play the game they love and enjoy playing. This is the same coach that was asked to go teach 700 kids on the island of samoa about the fundamentals of football with various NFL Players & NCAA coaches....a high school coach.....a security guard. This is a below average coach that learned football from the current offensive coordinator at USC, Kennedy Polamalu and current Pittsburgh Steeler, Troy Polamalu. Hard to imagine that all those attributes belong to a below average coach. Im proud of my older brother and his accomplishments. He often told me that if he couldn't put a kid in college, at least he'd make sure that kid would leave Skyline as a strong young man. I've yet to hear of a kid (Not a parent speaking for their kid) that didn't heighten his football IQ after being coached by Ken Polamalu. Just wanted to stand up for my brother, knowing he could care less how people see him.
Bteezy posted at 10:49 pm on Sun, Feb 12, 2012.
I played for Coach Jonovich for 3 years. as did many of my friends that I still am friends with. Coach Pola who has a loose relation to Troy Polamalu was underwhelmed trying to coach a 5a varsity offensive line. He barely knew the playbook, and often times was corrected by us players. Be proud of your brother he is a good man, just not a good coach. Also, when Jonovich was leading his team to playoff victories us ex-players knew that he was playing a weak schedule and not like the ones we played in 2003-04-05. Also, Jonovich would have lost his job years ago if it weren't for Mr. Mort Ortega being his best friend and also being the athletic director. This may be hard for people to hear, but just ask any kid that played for Pete, if they got better playing for him then they are liars. Coach was a great friend a life mentor, as a coach he lacked the skills to win at a school many other coaches could win at. Lastly, just because you might come from a family where a pro football player comes from does not make you a real coach. This "magic" that coach Pola supposedly worked sure is lost on me. How many lineman got scholarships from Skyline? How Many?
AG posted at 7:40 am on Mon, Feb 13, 2012.
Bteezy
It does appear your a bit bitter, so instead of yapping back and forth as these blogs usually do, I'll say good luck in your football career if your still playing in college. I think my brother is better off being somewhere where "other" people can appreciate him and have a better knowledge of the game than those that think they do at Skyline. Good luck to whoever takes over there.