Desert Ridge assistant Angelo Paffumi is expected to be the new Skyline football coach, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.
One source said Paffumi accepted the job on Saturday night. The hiring is pending approval by the Mesa Unified School District during its board meeting on Tuesday night.
Both Paffumi and Desert Ridge athletic director Greg Schultz did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
If approved, Paffumi would replace Pete Jonovich, whose coaching contract was not renewed after 11 seasons at the school.
Paffumi, 43, has been an assistant under Jeremy Hathcock for three years, essentially sharing defensive coordinator duties.
Prior to that, he was at Gilbert for 10 years under former coach Jesse Parker. He was a lower-level assistant for the first six years under Parker but became the Tigers' defensive coordinator when Gary Galante became the defensive coordinator at Brophy.
He played - and later became an assistant - at Apache Junction with Roy Lopez (Marcos de Niza) and former A.J. coach Rich Milligan. In between his A.J. stints, he played for two seasons at Mesa Community College before earning a degree at NAU.
Paffumi inherits a Skyline program whose last winning season was an 8-4 campaign in 2008 (the school's only season with a playoff victory). Skyline moved to 5A Division I in 2009 and is in the new Division I in 2011, but the Coyotes were a combined 6-26 the past three seasons.
Mark Heller is the East Valley Tribune sports editor. He can be reached at mheller@evtrib.com or (480) 898-6576.
DJB002 posted at 6:39 am on Tue, Mar 27, 2012.
Congratulations and best wishes to Coach Paffumi. He will be missed at Desert Ridge.