Mike Zdebski knows the best way to build a program. You’ve got to market, promote, and pile on the car mileage.
When he got hired in February to take over a 1-9 Surprise Shadow Ridge football team, he was quickly won over by the area, the facilities, the administration, the district, the parents, the potential growth.
So, he’s now taking the 202 freeway to the 10 to the 303 every morning on his way from his Chandler home to Surprise to dig into what he sees as a potential gold mine. He says it’s worth the 120-mile roundtrip drive for the former Chandler Hamilton head football coach.
A Hall of Fame high school coach in Michigan, Zdebski was given the task of trying to pull Hamilton out of an era marred by a hazing scandal,. The Huskies had been the best Arizona high school football program in the early 2000s, but it hit rock bottom after the hazing allegations became public.
In his first season in 2018, the Huskies went 3-7 and failed to make the state playoffs for the first time in school history. But he started working to get players in the weight room and on the track, committed to getting stronger and faster.
Discipline and commitment installed, he saw Brenden Rice go from running his first 100 meters in about 12 seconds to finishing third at 10.79 his junior year in the Division I state track and field championships. Rice now is with the NFL Los Angeles Chargers as a wide receiver.
Zdebski led the rebirth of elite Hamilton football to five consecutive Open Division state playoff appearance, reaching the final in 2020, before leaving at the end of last season. His last game at Hamilton, his Huskies pushed eventual state champion Peoria Liberty in the first round, taking a lead in the final quarter, before the Lions finally overpowered them.
Now, he’s digging in at Shadow Ridge, in a growing community, where the resources are top-notch and there should be no excuses for losing.
Zdebski said with the interest rates too high, he’s not bought a home near his new workplace. But he says it’s smooth sailing driving along the newest leg of the Loop 202 freeway around South Mountain each day to get to Surprise.
When asked during Wednesday’s inaugural Dysart Unified School District Football Media Day what has impressed him most about his new job, he said, “The 202.”
“It’s a beautiful thing on the south side right there,” he said. “I love that.”
Being around the school since the spring, getting to know the players, putting them through the work, Zdebski is impressed by the commitment.
“They are doing the things to be a high-level team,” Zdebski said. “They’re working like high achievers.
“They’ve put a lot of things behind them. The one thing we talked about was, ‘When adversity hits, how do we react to it?’ “
They hit the weights. They hit the track. They kept their heads down and they stopped looking in the rear-view mirror.
Last year, the Stallions got outscored 380-134. That season ended with a 42-27 loss to Valley Vista, another Surprise school they compete with for athletes. It was only Valley Vista’s second win last year.
Both schools underwent coaching changes in the offseason with Zdebski coming from a program used to chasing rings and John Morgando coming from Phoenix Sunnyslope, where he was defensive coordinator, to leading Valley Vista.
Morgando has his players up before the sun comes out, putting them through 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. practices.
“Commitment, responsibility and accountability, that’s what he preaches,” Valley Vista junior quarterback Damir Ilicic said of his new coach. “That’s a new thing for the program. It really creates a team rather than individuals.
“I think everyone is committed to make a splash.”
Becoming more physical
For Shadow Ridge to start winning and sustaining that, the culture has to change. Zdebski wants his players to get physically stronger than their opponents.
“You have to get in the weight room,” he said. “We’re very fortunate that we have a football class for our freshman team, our JV team and our varsity team. You have to spend time together to get to know each other. Those guys know they can trust us to put the time in.”
Zdebski has not missed a workout with the players since coming on board in mid-February.
“They know they have coaches who are committed,” he said. “We have great families. We’re going to work year-round to provide the opportunity for those players that want to be at that level. There are players who want to play other sports. We want them to do that.”
Zdebski brought up the former Hamilton star receiver Rice as an example. Rice, the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, started slow in the sprints once he began doing track his junior year. By the time state championships rolled around, he was on the podium.
“Next thing you know, he legitimized his ability to play (football) at a high level,” Zdebski said. “When people talk about being overlooked, or being slept on, go put some numbers up there and go compete.”
Zdebski also knows he’s got to get his players in front of media. That’s why he encouraged the Dysart district to have a football media day, even if it was just for four schools.
He brought with him two returning all-region players in backs Xavier Armenta and Max Cauley and the strongest player in the weight room, lineman Camden Lamar Brown, to media day on Wednesday.
“I just want people be aware of Shadow Ridge and what we are,” Brown said. “We’ve always had the talent, but this year, with this coaching staff, I truly believe we are playoff contenders. I truly think we will make the playoffs. I think with this coaching staff, anything is possible.”
Armenta added, “Watch out for us.”
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Coach Mike Zdebski sees football potential at Shadow Ridge
