Rich Wellbrock selected next Mountain Pointe football coach

January 23, 2018 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Rich Wellbrock's resignation after one season as head coach at Basha High left him without a coaching job for less than a week.

The Tempe Union High School District and Mountain Pointe posted a release Tuesday morning that Wellbrock will remain active on the sidelines next season. Wellbrock will replace Norris Vaughan as the Pride's fourth football coach since it opened in 1991. The hiring is pending district governing board approval at its next meeting.

Wellbrock abruptly resigned from Basha after completing one a season -- a 2-8 campaign at the Chandler District this past fall. Wellbrock made the move to Basha seemingly to restart the fortunes of the Bears after his successful seven-year stint at Desert Edge.

Instead, Basha turned in the fewest wins in any season to date -- a program that played its first varsity season in 2004. Wellbrock was 75-16 in seven seasons at Desert Edge that included one state title and one runner-up finish.

The addition of Casteel High School three years ago, two new American Leadership Academy campuses set to compete soon along with an existing one and a second Queen Creek district high school just around the corner has made the area around Basha ripe with competition for students/athletes.

Wellbrock has big shoes to fill as Vaughan's successor as Mountain Pointe. The Pride enjoyed immense success in Vaughan's tenure (99-19 record, 2009-2017). The stint included the school's only football title and two runner-up finishes. Mountain Pointe made the playoffs in all nine of Vaughan's seasons and reached the semifinals this past season falling to Perry.