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Kerry Taylor to return as Arcadia HS head football coach

After he was fired at the end of May, the Arcadia High School community rallied around Kerry Taylor to try and get him re-hired. It worked.

PHOENIX — On May 31, Arcadia High School sent down a stunning announcement. They had fired head football coach Kerry Taylor after just one year on the job. 

And what a spectacular job Taylor did in his one year at Arcadia—turning around a team that went 0-10 and was outscored 472-29 into a 6-4 team that narrowly missed the playoffs.

Taylor not only changed the fortunes of the program, but the school pride, spirit and game day attendance.  

The student body and community returned on game days to show their support and excitement of a winning program. But none of that seemed to matter. 

The school self-reported violations of recruiting and mandatory practices—which should have been voluntary practices—to the Arizona Interscholastic Association. The AIA accepted Arcadia’s reported violations and issued a warning.

On June 3, the Arcadia football players, parents and members of the community rallied at a meeting with the school and district administrators to get Taylor reinstated as head coach. It worked.  

A full week later, Arcadia High School released a statement announcing Taylor was getting his job back.

The statement in part reads: “On behalf of Arcadia High School and the Scottsdale Unified School District, we would like to offer an apology to coach Kerry Taylor and our families. We have met to discuss his return to the program and he is well aware that he has a home here at Arcadia.”

Taylor said Tuesday he would accept the offer and return as Arcadia's head coach. 

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