George De La Torre is familiar with the Mesa school district having been a football assistant coach at Westwood, Red Mountain and Skyline high schools in the 1980s, 1990s and decade of 2000. De La Torre is headed for a step up in a fourth decade in what will be his first head coaching position in the Mesa district.

Florence High principal Chris Knutsen confirmed Wednesday that De La Torre is leaving Florence for Dobson High to be that school's new football coach, pending Mesa governing board approval. De La Torre will replace Alex Jacobson, who resigned in November after leading the Mustangs for three seasons.

"Yes, George is leaving us," Knutsen said. "He's done so much changing the culture here at  Florence. Done a great job with our program. He's a good man."

An announcement from Dobson is expected soon, perhaps as early as Wednesday. Dobson players anxiously awaited word of a new football coach Tuesday night as they surrounded athletic director Dr. Ray Perkins after the school's girls basketball game with Red Mountain.

De La Torre will bring seven years of head coaching experience to Dobson, the last  four years at Florence. He took over a program that was 1-9  in 2007 and compiled a 31-19 record (2008-2011), including three straight semifinal appearances the last three seasons in 3A or the newly formed Division IV.

Prior to coming to Florence, De La Torre was head coach at South Mountain for three years (2005-2007) where the Jaguars went 23-12 and made the playoffs each season, culminating with a semifinal berth in 2007.