By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

Bobby Newcombe isn’t going to coach the Casteel Colts football team anymore.

Newcombe announced this week on X, formerly Twitter, that he’s resigning from leading the Colt program he’s headed for the past seven seasons. The announcement came less than a week after the Colts were eliminated with a 37-14 home loss to Peoria Centennial in the 6A quarterfinals.

It also came two weeks after Chandler Unified School District administratators disciplined him by barring him from coaching Casteel’s first-round playoff upset win at Highland.

“I don’t know what the next step is but I hope it includes coaching and submersing myself in the development of others,” Newcombe wrote in his statement on X. “My greatest paycheck is witnessing the water turn to wine. Being a part of the transformation of others is a tremendous joy and I pray I am able to continue this journey.”

Newcombe’s announcement came about a week after Chandler High School coach Rick Garretson made the decision to retire after six seasons at the helm.

Newcombe also posted a long list of program accomplishments from his era at Casteel, which started with a transition from 3A to 5A, which eventually, as Queen Creek has grown, the transition to 6A.

The Colts have had more than 57 NCAA football signees, Newcombe said, including 22 at the D1 level, more than 200 All -Academic Team members, a high team GPA and graduation rate, 147 season player awards and nominees for an Arizona player-of-the-year award.

The Colts made the playoffs in all seven years under Newcombe and made the semifinals twice.

I want to thank all the players, parents, coaches, teachers, support staff, administrators, and community members who were all stakeholders in the growth of the Casteel football program,” Newcombe wrote. “I am super proud of the work we were able to accomplish during this time."

It’s fitting the final victory of Newcombe’s tenure at Casteel came over a school named Highland. Newcombe played his high school football for an Albuquerque school also named Highland, setting New Mexico fields ablaze with his speed and ability to run through tackles.

Newcombe went on to play at Nebraska as one of the predecessor quarterbacks to Hesiman Eric Crouch. He finished his college career as a receiver and kick returner for the Conrnhuskers, playing briefly in the Canadian Football League afterward in the early 2000s.

Newcombe told another media outlet he was “disciplined severely” after using profanity the day before the Nov. 15 Highland game during practice to try to inspire Casteel players.

The Colts seemed inspired in Newcombe’s absence, overcame a 24-0 halftime deficit to beat the Hawks, 29-27, with assistant coach Jeremy Beamon serving as Casteel’s interim head coach.

Newcombe returned to the sidelines for the No. 11-seed Colts’ Nov. 22 quarterfinal against No. 14 Centennial, but the visiting Hawks are loaded at nearly every position this season, scoring the first 20 points and nearly dominating to end Casteel’s season.

Newcombe took over the Casteel program from Spencer Stowers, the 2015-opened school’s only other head coach, after the Colts had gone undefeated and won the 3A state title in 2017.

The Colts eventually ended up as a 6A program, as the Chandler Unified School District and the rest of the East Valley population continued to boom.

Casteel not only competes in the tough Premier Region in most sports, but regular competes with CUSD rivals Basha, Hamilton, Perry, Chandler High, and, in some ways, Arizona College Prep for state and national attention.

Newcombe has had three of his sons in the Casteel program. Jeremiah is a freshman at Oklahoma and Isaiah’s a junior at UCLA; the two defensive backs were two-way standouts for the Colts. Casteel sophomore Micah Newcombe was a linebacker on this year’s Colts varsity.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.

Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

Jason W. Brooks
Associate Editor

Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.

He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.

Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.