Former Thunder Mountain High School head football coach Randy Quinto on Wednesday was named the head coach of the new consolidated Juneau football team.
The Juneau School District made the announcement Wednesday in an emailed press release to the Empire.
The release states “a committee of Juneau Education Association head coaches, boosters, activities directors, administrators and football players” conducted interviews for the position on Monday. Quinto received word Tuesday he was accepted.
“It’s very humbling to have the opportunity to do this, to bring together the two schools,” Quinto told the Empire in a phone interview.
JSD this year merged the Juneau-Douglas High School and TMHS football programs, due to mounting financial hardship and player safety concerns. Alaska School Activities Association approved the merger, which is good for just one year, last month.
The job posting for the new head football coach position for the merged team was sent out to district employees on Dec. 1. The team does not have a new name yet, and other details of the merger are still being worked out.
Minimum requirements for the job included previous head coaching, fundraising and effective communication experience.
Quinto said the move to rename the team was a major factor in his decision to apply. He said he will give careful consideration to where the team trains, practices and competes in order for the players to feel like they are playing for a unified team.
“The big driving force here is to make it so that the JD boys don’t feel like that they’re coming over to Thunder, the Thunder boys don’t feel like they’re going over to JD,” Quinto said.
He said he is waiting to finalize the rest of the coaching staff until after talking to JDHS players.
Quinto was born in Juneau and graduated from JDHS in 1986. He has taught for the past three years at TMHS; he currently teaches work readiness and weight training classes.
Quinto spent two seasons as an assistant coach on the TMHS program before being promoted to head coach in 2015. In two of the last three years, Quinto’s Falcons have qualified for the state championships as one of the top seeds in the now dissembled Southeast Conference.
The release also noted that there’s a “long list” of decisions that need to be had before the beginning of next football season. A committee, comprised of parents, students, student council members and faculty, was formed to make recommendations about what the mascot and colors should be for the new team.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
