Jonovich firing brings polarizing reaction
Public and private opinions on Pete Jonovich losing his football coaching job at Skyline are all over the place.
One side annoited him as an excellent role model for teenagers who saw that wins and losses aren’t definitions to a person’s life. He did the best he could at a school that has mostly struggled since he arrived in 2001 (and pretty much since it opened a few years prior). His outlook was rosy, never complained about resources and circumstances his program didn’t have that neighbor schools possess (Red Mountain, Mountain View, Desert Ridge in recent years).
The development of kids off the field was his biggest priority, and it was to his credit he refused to try and lure kids to the school the way other coaches are constantly accused of doing.
One side felt this was a long time coming. Wins and losses do matter to the school’s culture, and especially in retaining neighborhood kids that Skyline lost to the Chandler and Gilbert schools, Desert Ridge, etc. He was in over his head as a 5A-I/Division I head coach. He and his staff were good people, but nowhere else in big-school football would a coach with a 36-79 record in 11 seasons have lasted that long.
The answer probably lies somewhere in between. The administration looks bad for making these decisions this long after the season when most jobs elsewhere are filled, being an assistant elsewhere is hardly a bad thing. In many ways, it’s better.
Jonovich’s departure means Mesa’s Kelley Moore (five years) is the longest-tenured football coach in Mesa’s school district.
That sounds odd, except the foggy criteria for what constitutes a good coach for teenagers in today’s football climate continues to grow denser.
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I have worked with Pete Jonovich, not closely, but enough to have seen what his priorities were. His priorities were kids, plain and simple and that is what the bottom line should be. There are way too many ex-jocks who want to live their failed athletic dreams through their children in charge of things in this area. Pete will probably land on his feet somewhere, but that’s not the point. Too many coaches who give it their all, end up on the scrap heap with Mesa’s administration and that is just ridiculous.
“The development of kids off the field was his biggest priority” this statement alone is the biggest crock of crap I’ve read from this paper in a long time. Jonovich never wanted to develop anyone or anything. He was just there, and from what I’ve heard from kids that played for him he wasn’t even there all the time the last couple years. This man literally has hundreds of pee-wee league ballplayers in his backyard and he has rarely ever tried to reach out to these young men and tried to work with them or invite them to come out and see exactly how they do things at the school and this is the reason that kids in there own backyard go to Desert Ridge and Red Mountain. The school is tremendously better off without Pete coaching the school anymore.
Typical in todays educational envoronment. Lets not worry about giving kids solid life lessons – lets get rid of a real good role model. Lets find someone who can WIN at a school, bless their hearts, that is OVER THEIR HEADS in the competion level they play in. Not going to happen. Steve Belles couldnt win there!
Hey Jimmy Jam – That is called RECRUITING!! Kudos to him for not going the way of Hamilton, et al.
Here’s the deal! In truth the only ones suffering here are the kids. Jonovich’s record speaks for it self! You want to build personal pride in your players win football games! It’s is easy to say I don’t want to “Recruit” and then have a losing record every season except for 2 over the last 11 years. That is never heard of in any sport! Pete Jonovich is a good man! But Pete Jonovich is not a good coach!
Pete Jonovich was my son’s Coach, and I have to say I am more deeply indebted to him for the positive influence that he had on my son’s life. Jimmy Jam, “rarely ever tried to reach out to these young men”, you obviously have not been around for very long. For years Jonovich let the local youth leagues play on his fields, even every Saturday on his varsity field. He let the youth teams use his film room and work out at his facility. How many other varsity coaches woule ever allow that? Why did he stop? He sttopped because those same players that used his facilities that he so openly granted ran off to places like DR and RM because their players thought they were the next coming of every hero NFL player that every made the hall of fame. Funny thing is, many of them ended sitting the bench at those schools, and eventually quit football because they were not the studs that their parents envisioned they were. Funny thing is, if they would have went to Skyline, they would have played for Coach Jono, not sat, they would have learned about the game of football. But, more than that, they would have learned about how to be a man, the right kind of man who puts the important things first. Thank you Coach, you will be missed by this community, many of them just don’t know it.
Skyline’s two best athletes from their football team transferred, one to Desert Ridge and the other to Mesa HS. They might win one game next year, Trevor Browne or Carl Hayden or maybe even squeeze those two out, who knows. Their speed just ran to other schools.
Skyline is not Globe or some other lower division high school. They are not Morenci or South Mountain etc…the same type of coaching skills that Pete possesses probably is a good thing for those schools. Those players come from extremely broken homes. My wife and I teach my son life’s lessons and how to be an integral part of society. That’s my responsibility. I don’t need a coach trying to do that. I need a coach that will coach. I need a coach that will utilize the talent he has. I need a coach that won’t use the excuse that its the players and not the coaching. The reason for the influx of players leaving the program is because they don’t want to sit around at their 10 year reunion and talk about the two or three wins they won in high school. You coach with what you have and do the best job possible.
Finally1,
your last comment,” You coach with what you have and do the best job possible.” What he had were other schools rejects & kids that couldn’t start at nearby schools. Skyline’s QB’s (any year) is not better than Red Mtn’s or DR’s, matter of fact not even better than QC and AJ’s. There RB’s are not better that Brantley or Counts, There WR’s are not better than anyone at DR or Red Mtn. There lineman are smaller than any lineman on AJ,QC,DR & Red Mtn. So, you coach with what you have & you lose when this is what you have. Unless the new coach brings some players with him, Skyline has no size returning. Their speed just transfered to DR and Mesa. If your looking to pull kids already on the skyline campus, perhaps you should tour the campus during the lunch hour, you’ll not see a kid that makes you say, “Wow, that kid must play football.” Not one.
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