Playing with fire: Arizona high school football coaches double as firefighters

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No matter the time of day, firefighters are ready to stop at any moment of the day to serve their community. And some of them serve their communities as football coaches.

But for others, running toward danger instead of away from it is a life mission.

Cole, 63, has had at least a dozen assistant coaches who doubled as firefighters in total. He currently has five assistant coaches who are active members of the fire department. “That’s where I fell in love with firefighting,” Brayer said. “I saw the similarities between the locker room, the preparation, the game, getting out there and being dependent on the guys next to you.”

Sandra Day O’Connor linebacker coach Josh Petrucci met Cole long before they coached together on the sidelines. Petrucci began coaching on a volunteer basis with Cole at North Canyon High School and immediately fell in love. “He’s definitely been a mentor to me and been a consistent figure in my life, during both my career as a fireman and as a coach,” Petrucci said. “I see him every about four to five months out of the year. We’re together almost every day, a couple hours a day. He knows me, I know him. I got to coach his kids, and he knows my kids and welcomes my kids at practice.”

“It’s challenging at times,” Tucker said. “Just the whole managing time, but I’m only a football coach for, in the grand scheme of things, 12-13 weeks. Offseason is a little bit different because the time and demand is not there. So the only time it’s really crucial is just during the season, but otherwise it’s just something I’m used to doing. I’ve gotten accustomed to running that schedule.”

“My kids love coming to practice and games with me,” Petrucci said. “My wife’s very supportive. These guys are awesome. They’re supportive, they’ll get in here and watch film with me sometimes. So we’re really lucky on that front.” “Out on the football field, it’s one thing. If you don’t prepare and you don’t get ready to play the game, you’re going to get your butt kicked, you’re going to lose,” Cole said. “Fire department’s a little bit more serious – if you don’t train and you don’t prepare for certain things, things can go wrong really fast. I think preparation in both things is just super important.”

 

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