Affiliation: Chandler High School head coach, 2011-present.
Interview date: April 11, 2016.
FA: I’m with Shaun Aguano, the head coach at Chandler High School.
It’s a rivalry that has a lot of history to it. What was your first experience being exposed to it?
SA: I was here from the beginning, when we were first here in that losing streak for 17 years and it was tough. You knew you were going to go into that game and our kids weren’t ready mentally to win football games. Were we out-talented? I think we were out-talented a little bit in the beginning, and once our talent did start to catch up with Hamilton I thought that it became mental. I think in 2008, 2009 when Brett Hundley was here and we have the lead and then lose it on the last play of the game and things like that. I think that once I became interested in turning the cycle around from the mental standpoint, that’s where we took over.
FA: What did it take to make that switch mentally?
SA: I think just taking care of the details of practice, of the weight room, of the classroom and holding down the discipline. Then I started to research and see about playing out of state against the big schools. I wanted to take on the №1 or №2 schools in the country just to show that, no matter whether it was a win or a loss, we could play with anybody so when we came here, we’ve been on the big stage already and it didn’t bother us. Our kids’ mentality was, ‘We’ve played the best. They’re just another team.’ That’s changed the whole ramifications of the outcome of the game.”
FA: To play off that the first year you beat Hamilton was the same year you played [then-national №1] St. John Bosco. You’ve kept that out of state component with Valor Christian (Colorado) and Bishop Gorman (Nevada). How did those come together?
SA: When we were at Bosco, I thought our kids competed really well, especially in the first half. We found ourselves up, and they knew that they could play with anybody in the country. Then, we needed to find a way to win and we didn’t know how to do that yet. I’d wanted to make sure that we’d competed really well on a big stage. Once they figured out that they could compete and they could’ve won or should’ve won, when they came back against Hamilton they knew that they could win any game in the country. Getting past that, and at the end of the game Dionte [Sykes] catches the [touchdown] at the end of an 80-yard drive, I just saw it in their eyes that they knew they were going to win. When J.R. [Hunt] picks it off to go into the end zone, I just knew that our kids knew how to win from then on. From [St. John Bosco] game, I think the mentality changed on our kids to where we didn’t think we could get beat in Arizona anymore. Now it’s stepped up to the national level, and we went to Valor Christian the next year and won there. Now we’re winning on a big stage. I think it’s all mental.
FA: How did those games show you what type of core you had to build around when you eventually won the state championship?
SA: I knew that we had the talent. I didn’t know if we could have the lines up front on offense and defense to compete. I knew that technically we were going to be pretty sound, but I really wanted to test the character and discipline and toughness of our kids’ more than anything. I really didn’t care if we’d win or lose. A couple years back I met with a coach, and he broke coaching down to me in three aspects. You first have to learn how to compete. Once you can compete and get that taken care of, now it’s time to win those close games. How do you win those close games? Once you start winning those close games and the ones you’re supposed to, then we talk about championships. I didn’t talk about state championships when we played against Bosco. I just wanted to see how we were going to compete. Bryce [Perkins] was young. Chase [Lucas] was young. We had a young football team. The next year, because I knew we competed well, I wanted to make sure we won the close games like the one against Valor. Then we could talk championship once I thought we had hit that level of competing and winning those close games. Now, we talk about national championships because I think we can compete with anybody. I think we can win the close games, and now we’re at a caliber that I feel we can compete nationally with anybody.
FA: We’re talking national championships now, but what was the culture and expectation like when you first joined the program?
SA: I just saw that from a mental standpoint that our kids always felt that they were a second-class football team. Any place they would go in public, [they’d hear], ‘When are you going to beat Hamilton? When are you going to win a championship?’ Hearing all those things I think was negative on them until I could bring them to a national stage and let them know that they could compete with anybody. Now, I don’t believe that our kids think that they can lose to anybody. I think we were just getting brow-beaten all the time for those 12, 13 years of hearing all of that. It’s changed completely because you would never go into a public place and have someone ask ‘When are you going to beat Hamilton?’ [anymore]. Now it’s ‘How come you didn’t win a state championship?’ again and again. The expectations have changed.
FA: I was talking to Dave Shapiro and he said that when the job first opened up when Jim Ewan retired, there were a couple other candidates. What did you know about the other candidates, and what do you think made you stand out for the job?
SA: I knew the other candidates, and they were great candidates. A couple of them had won state championships before. I believe that the committee knew that I was the right person because of the love I felt for Chandler my commitment level to Chander [High]. I’ve been here. The hardest question I had to answer in the interview was what am I going to do differently from coach Ewan since I was on his staff. [I said] paying attention to detail, changing the mentality of the kids, and so those things in my mission and vision. People knew we were probably going to lose to St. John Bosco, but I wanted to make sure we upped our ante on everything. It’s worked. If it hadn’t worked, I probably would’ve burned and I would be looking for a job, but I think it has played a different part with my attitude on taking care of the kids and loving them and changing their mentality.
FA: When you took the job, did you visualize the rise that followed with playoffs the first two years, state semifinals the third year and then state champions the fourth year?
SA: I just felt that I wanted to make sure that we competed and won those close games to change the mentality. Over the 10 years prior, I thought we lost close games that we should have won because our kids were looking for a way to lose. They were playing not to win. I had to change that somehow. That first year when we won in overtime and in the rain against Westview, I felt that our kids knew how to get over that little hump. It was in bad conditions, not playing at our home, and we knew how to win. Then we lost the next game to Hamilton. In that semifinal game, I thought we needed to win those close games because that semifinal we lost it on the last play of the game. But I knew that we were getting really, really close. When I scheduled the games out of state, I knew that I had to get that ante up and I knew we had to play on that bigger stage. That was something that I had envisioned and planned.
FA: How big of an impact did the losing streak to Hamilton have on the kids’ mentality?
SA: Shoot, I think it made a huge deal in how our [kids thought]. Our faculty wanted us to beat Hamilton, but our kids were hearing it all the time. ‘When can you beat them? You’re not as good as them. When is the program going to be there?’ Did I feel that we had the same kind of caliber of kids [as Hamilton]? In the later years, I did. But our kids were playing not to lose and were looking for bad things to happen at the end. That’s what I had to change.
FA: Did playing at Jerry Loper Field have something to do with it, or was it also noticeable at home?
SA: I didn’t think that played a huge part, but I had to convince the 300 kids in the program that I believed that we could win. Being the leader of it, I never talked about us losing. I never talked about — they had to see the confidence in me the whole time. I was confident that what I put up as a vision was going to be completed. They didn’t know how to get there, so as a staff we had to walk that along. I think our staff has been there so long that they were getting brow-beaten a lot, too. I had to change the culture and mentality of our players to the point where I believe that I don’t think I can lose. I still don’t believe that, from a coaching aspect or our players, I still don’t believe I can lose. So when I do lose a game, that’s a shock to me. It’s that mentality, I think, that the kids follow, and that I believe every day.
FA: How has your preparation for Hamilton week changed since you finally broke the streak?
SA: Before, we used to worry so much about their schemes and their personnel and whatever it is. Now, we prep it as a regular football game where we worry about ourselves, how we’re going to get aligned, our execution, all those things that we can control more than worrying about their football team. Any game that we’re going into now, we’re worrying about us doing the right things — getting least penalized, executing on plays, the will to win — if we don’t beat ourselves, I don’t think anyone can beat us.
FA: Chandler and Hamilton each have their distinctive style when building their program. What do you think it is that makes Chandler unique?
SA: I think we have a ton of athletes, so my style is to play fast break basketball and to get our athletes the football and do whatever they can outside. We have a more fun attitude towards our offense, and then defense we blitz on right occasions and doing those things. We try to mirror all phases — offense, defense, special teams — on the kids having fun. That’s why you’ll never see any of our receivers have 70 catches with 1,200 yards or whatever it is, because we spread the ball out so much that everyone has a chance to have fun during the game.
FA: How important has it been to have a track program that is at the level it is?
SA: A lot. I try to get every one of our skill kids to run track, and our track team is composed of our football coaches. With us working together, I think that plays a huge part. I think that them winning state championships in track, boys and girls, bringing that winning attitude helps us on the football field as well.
FA: Chandler has historically had great offenses, but their defense was what often plagued them. How has that changed?
SA: I hired [former defensive coordinator Thurmond] Moore a couple years ago and then I hired [defensive backs coach Jay] Schnittger who worked under coach Moore who brought that attitude that made sure the kids were running through the football, aligned right and doing all the small things right. Of course, Chandler is still known for its offense, but it’s our defense that has won us the championship. I want to make sure that we put as much emphasis on the defense as we do on the offense, and maybe even more.
FA: A lot of the guys who have been critical to the programs’ success in recent years are guys that come from other programs. How big is it to have the open enrollment policy in this district?
SA: I think the culture that we have bred brings kids here not only from the standpoint of a lot of kids are being recognized and going to play college football, but that our coaches take care of our kids. It’s more of a family. I enjoy open enrollment. The reason why I like open enrollment is because my kids are on open enrollment, too, and I’m going to look for the best place that fits for my kids as well from a culture standpoint, from an academic standpoint and an athletic standpoint. I think that Chandler High fits all of those molds. When you build a culture like that and you win, everyone wants to be a part of a winner. When people talk about us recruiting or whatever it is, I think our programs here at Chandler speak for themselves and people want to be a part of it and they come to us.
FA: There’s so much talent in the state of Arizona, so why do you think it’s all headed towards the East Valley and the Chandler area (Chandler, Hamilton, Basha and Perry)?
SA: I think that the Chandler Unified School District’s administration gets it, all the way from [superintendent] Camile Casteel at the top to our site principals. They understand that athletics and academics fit together, and so it’s not pushed aside. If a program or school is successful in academics and athletics, then everything is successful. I think they put a huge emphasis on athletics because it plays so much in a kid’s life. In the Chandler Unified School District, there’s more and more open enrollment and more and more families are coming into our district. We emphasize all of those.
FA: Do you think that’s also a reason why the city has continued to expand in recent years?
SA: Oh, definitely. Anybody who’s relocating from out of state is first going to look for where the best schools are. We’ve always been the best district, and I can’t see my kids going any place else. Whenever people move, I think that’s the reason why they’re moving. For one, if they have kids, they’re going to be in the best school district.
FA: It seems like Chandler has really thrived more than anyone in recent years with their ability to send kids to the next level. What’s your philosophy with that, and how have you worked with college coaches to work toward that goal?
SA: The biggest thing for me is to make sure our kids have a very good experience in their four years, but the most important thing for me that our kids choose whatever they want to choose, and if they have the opportunity to play at the post-secondary level. That’s a huge thing for me. I try to work as hard as I can to get as many kids out to play college football and their education paid for, I think more than anybody else. I just think that, coming from our neighborhood, our kids need to go out and go experience the college life and playing football. I work really hard on getting those kids out. We probably have 150 and 180 schools around the country come to Chandler to look for kids. The other thing that speaks for itself is all the kids that we have put out in college do very, very well at the next level. We currently have five NFL guys that are doing well. All of the quarterbacks that have come through our system are either starting or on the verge of starting at Pac-12 schools. I just think they’ve done a good job because of the rigor that we put them through here.
FA: The last four Chandler quarterbacks — Brett Hundley, Darrel Garretson, Bryce Perkins and Mason Moran — all wound up at Pac-12 schools. What is your philosophy with quarterbacks, and how do you think they’ve all been able to be so successful?
SA: First of all, they’re all good athletes. Second of all, the system that we run is sophisticated where they have to critically think all of the time. The third thing is, they’re all very good students. In order to play quarterback for me, you’re going to have to have a 3.8 GPA or higher. You have to be a leader in the classroom, on the football field, doing all those kinds of things in order to play for me. I won’t play an average kid at quarterback. When I’m talking about average, [I mean] from a knowledge standpoint, from an intelligence standpoint, from an athletic standpoint. I think they’ve all had those characteristics and attitudes, and I think that when they go to college they do really, really well.
FA: They haven’t all been similar quarterbacks, though. How do you tinker each year with a new guy?
SA: Our offensive is so multiple that it’s very flexible. Brett Hundley was a big runner, Darell Garretson was more of a pocket passer. Bryce was a running type, Mason is both and so everyone has their own little strengths. Making it easy and simple enough to understand, because they’re the ones playing in the football game, we’ve tweaked our offense based upon the personnel that we’ve had.
FA: Where do you move next? What’s the process like to develop a quarterback into this system?
SA: Right now, we’ve got three quarterbacks vying for position here and I think that all three can [do it]. From a selfish standpoint, I think that all three can go and play anywhere in the state and would probably be in the top 10 quarterbacks. Who shows the commitment, doesn’t turn over the football, does well in the classroom, takes leadership roles, all those things and who manages our football team the best is probably the one that’s going to win the job.
FA: Going back to the rivalry, what’s the atmosphere like when you first arrive at the field? How do you manage yourself?
SA: That’s why I want to go and play those big games. The atmosphere for our kids and Hamilton, I don’t think there’s any atmosphere like that ever in Arizona. You’re talking between 15 and 20 thousand people separated between sidelines. You can’t go to the other side. The hatred between the two schools. The kids have played together in Pop Warner and youth football leagues together on the same teams and now they’re separated. That is probably one of the best rivalries [in the country]. ESPN and FOX and those guys keep on coming to those games to do it because they’ve never been in an atmosphere like that. It’s incredible.
FA: How big were those games on ESPNU and ESPN2 to add to the national and state profile of the rivalry?
SA: I think it’s been huge. I go to a lot of conferences and speak at a lot of places, and everyone knows Chandler High School. We’ve been on TV, we’ve been in the top 15 in the country — top 12 two years ago — and now we’ve become a national name out there. I think it’s helped out a lot for us.
FA: What differences have you noticed when the game is at each location between Jerry Loper Field and Austin Field?
SA: I think our stadium is a little bit bigger. Hamilton is a little newer. Of course, anybody as the home team will feel more comfortable at their place. I just like the old school Austin Field feeling of it. We’ve won on Hamilton’s field, so that’s nothing, but I just like the home field in the neighborhood of Chandler. [The school has] been here 100 years, so I just feel this is a better facility to hold that game than anything else.
FA: You mentioned that you beat Hamilton at Jerry Loper a couple years ago. First of all, you ended their home win streak and you also blew them out. Bryce Perkins had something like 400 passing yards and six touchdowns. What did that performance mean to you, showing that you can not only beat Hamilton but now also do so in impressive fashion?
SA: I think it goes against their psyche a lot. Now, they’re wondering how they can beat us, so that whole tide has changed. If you talk to any Chandler or Hamilton player, the roles have reversed a lot. Now, I think Hamilton is trying to figure out how to beat us the next couple times. Our expectations are high. Now, we’re at a different level where we’re the top dog and they’re the underdog. Hopefully our kids can rise up to that occasion.
FA: Where do you see this going in the next couple years. I know selfishly that you want Chandler to keep this run of success, but where do you see things headed?
SA: Hopefully, it’s in our favor but I have a feeling that it’ll go back and forth a little bit. I think their coaching staff is good. They had to tighten up a little bit in order to find ways to beat us, so it’s going to be a drag-out fight I think every single time. It’ll come to the end, I think.
FA: How does that relationship dynamic work between you and coach Belles?
SA: Coach Belles and I get along great. Our two goals are to win a state championship. They respect the way we do things, I respect the way they do things. They’ve won for a long time. There has been no animosity between the both of us at any time. We talk freely. Our girls play volleyball in the same leagues together and so we see each other all the time. We have no animosity. We just know that we’re going to beat them all the time, (laughs).
FA: What games or performances really stand out to you from this rivalry?
SA: The game we lost on the last play of the game with Brett Hundley. That was hard for us. The game that we lost at Highland in the semifinals in the rain on the last play, that was hard for us. Those two were the most bitter losses that I’ve felt. The one when I felt that we’ve finally arrived was that first game that we beat them here at Austin Field. I knew we took a step up when we beat them and blew them out. Our state championship game, where they had to hold the ball for as much time as they could for us not to score, I knew that we weren’t the underdog anymore. Those five games I think were crucial in this whole transformation.
FA: When you did beat Hamilton for the first time, you left that 26–16 score up on the scoreboard for a week. You made shirts. What was the atmosphere like and the response you got from the school?
SA: As good as we felt as a football team, I felt the community felt even better, especially the alumni, the businesses, everyone else that had been [waiting]. Hamilton had been around about 15 years, Chandler’s been around for 100. Most of the guys who went to Hamilton, their parents were Chandler graduates. Deep down inside, I thought that Saturday that we returned to practice, I think people woke up with a smile on their face because we won. That was a big thing in our community.
FA: Your own name has increased in recognition as a result. How have you been able to handle to newfound attention?
SA: I’ve always thought that — I don’t believe I can lose. That’s just how I was brought up. I was also always taught to treat people the same way all the time, so my attitude has never changed. My expectations have changed a little bit, but my attitude towards the kids, towards the staff, towards the faculty and towards people in the community never changes. I think I’m the same person. I think that losing last year and not making the state championship, I had to reevaluate what I did in our program and make sure that I tighten the screws. I’m learning every day. I’ve had opportunities for advancement at the collegiate level that I didn’t feel was the right time for me right now because my son is coming [to Chandler] and it just wasn’t a good fit right then and there. It could’ve been easy to just pull the trigger and go, but I still feel I have a couple things I need to get done here at Chandler. One is to win the national title.
FA: What do you think it would take for you to take that next step up to the college level?
SA: I think the biggest thing is it has to be the right fit for my family. That’s the biggest thing. I preach that family thing to all my kids, so it has to be the right fit for my family where my wife can stay home and make sure that someone is home with the kids all the time. It’s a right fit for my kids in which they feel comfortable with it and it has to be the right fit for me because I’m a dad first more than anything else. That has to fit in before the glamour of the collegiate level and everything else. Do I have career aspirations of going on? Sure, I do. Will I feel something that I feel is a good fit? I’ll take it in a heartbeat, but it has to fit with my family more than anything else.
FA: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, coach.
