Chandler ACP High football coach quits after 1 year
Courtesy of Arizona College Prep High School
Steven Vaught has resigned after only one year coaching the Arizona College Prep football team. The school’s principal said the position has been posted and administrators will begin interviewing candidates in February.
Almost one year to the day after he was announced as the Arizona College Prep head football coach, Steve Vaught is no longer with the Knights program.
In a letter to parents this week, ACPHS Principal Rob Bickes said Vaught is “stepping down as the leader of our school’s football program and pursuing professional opportunities outside the field of education.”
There were no direct quotes from Vaught in the letter, nor has the now-former coach spoken publicly about his resignation.
Vaught was Chandler High School’s defensive coordinator until he left after the 2022 season to run the Knights’ defense under then-ACP head coach Myron Blueford. The Knights, with Vaught’s defense, went 8-4 in 2023 and won a first-round playoff game in Kingman before falling at eventual 4A champion Canyon del Oro in overtime in the 4A quarterfinals.
When Blueford departed after the Knights’ 2023 season, Vaught was eventually given the head-coaching job by Bickes and ACPHS athletic director Jamie McClure. This past fall, Vaught helped lead a talented Knights squad to a 12-2 season that ended with a loss to another rising team, Mica Mountain, in the 4A title game.
The Knights dropped their season opener to an Indiana 6A state semifinalist, then won 12 straight games, earning the No. 2 seed in the 4A playoffs.
Vaught’s Knights also earned their first home playoff games, starting with Estrella Foothills.
“I feel we built a team that is capable of winning lots of styles and types of football games,” Vaught told Independent Newsmedia after the win over Estrella Foothills.
Vaught’s accolades for the Knights’ success include him being named Chandler Unified School District 2024 coach of the year.
The resignation comes not only after most of the annual musical chairs of Arizona football coaching changes has finished, but it also comes just after two other Chandler Unified schools found replacements. Chandler High School’s Rick Garretson and Casteel’s Bobby Newcombe were both replaced by out-of-state established coaches.
Bickes said, in his letter to parents, the position has been posted and administrators will begin interviewing candidates in February.
“This is more than just hiring a coach,” Bickes wrote. “It is about finding someone who embodies our values, strives for excellence, and inspires our students to achieve the extraordinary.”
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Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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