Arcadia football coach Jim Ellison has resigned for personal reasons, athletic director Kevin Mooney said.
The Titans went 10-3 last season and advanced to the Division III semifinals before getting knocked off by Glendale Cactus.
Arcadia is currently at football camp in Payson and begins the season on Aug. 24 against Coronado. Ellison went 31-16 in four years as coach.
"We appreciate the contributions he made the last four years," Mooney said.
Ellison did not return a voice mail seeking comment.
Mooney said offensive coordinator Lenny Abt will take over as interim coach. The school will search for a permanent replacement after the season ends.
Mooney and principal Anne-Marie Woolsey went up to the camp on Tuesday and notified the team of Ellison's resignation.
"We were very impressed by (the players') mood and spirit," Mooney said.
Reach Kyle Odegard at (480) 898-6834 or kodegard@evtrib.com. Follow his blog at http://blogs.evtrib.com/varsityxtra, or find him on Twitter @Kyle_Odegard.
TMan43 posted at 1:55 pm on Tue, Aug 14, 2012.
Here is a quote from Coach Ellison taken from an article by Mr. Obert in AZCentral, "Jim Ellison, speaking out for the first time since stepping down just before the start of Phoenix Arcadia's football camp in Payson, said Saturday he was told by school officials to either resign or he would be fired as head coach."
Read the entire article and you tell me if there is a problem in Scottsdale Schools. Too many good coaches being fired without just cause. If I were a good coach, and had an ounce of grey matter, I would never think about coaching for a school in that school district.
http://www.azcentral.com/membe...ardobert/168867
Gut al fan posted at 12:31 am on Sun, Aug 12, 2012.
I do not believe Jim Ellison would walk away from Arcadia. The new Principal is making changes and he appears to have made a bad decision. Ellison was great for this program.