Former East Valley assistant and last season's 5A Arizona Football Coaches Association coach of the year, George De La Torre, is the new football coach at Florence, the school announced Thursday.
"We are quite pleased to get a coach the caliber of George and we look forward to his leadership and winning philosophy," Florence athletic director Mike Crymble said. De La Torre replaces Shawn Cluff, who resigned after last season.
De La Torre spent the past three years at Phoenix South Mountain, leaving with a 23-12 record.
"I am delighted to join the team at Florence because I believe that those who coach are first and foremost, teachers who have a duty to assure that their sport programs impart important life skills and promote the development of sound character, the Florence folks subscribe to the same philosophy," De La Torre said.
De La Torre spent many years in the East Valley as an assistant coach in the 1980s and ’90s and early part of this decade with stops at Mesa Westwood, Mesa Red Mountain and Mesa Skyline among them.
