'Offertunity Bowl' gives Arizona high school football players late recruiting exposure
A who's who of former high school and college football coaches are helping a group of Arizona high school seniors, whose recruiting hasn't worked out like they wanted, and leading them on Saturday in the first Offertunity Bowl.
That's not a typo. It's an opportunity to get an offer late in the recruiting game as the Feb. 7 Signing Day gets closer.
The game against California seniors will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday at Ottawa University in Surprise. It will be streamlined for college recruiters who registered to get a glimpse of potential recruits.
This is the first time this has taken place to help seniors who got swallowed up by the changes in the recruiting game including the portal and the extra years granted college players during COVID. It's not an all-star game as much as a recruiting tool.
"I think for the first year the success to me is that we're actually doing it," said former Scottsdale Saguaro defensive coordinator Jim Camarillo, who coordinated the event in Arizona since September, after he was contacted by people from the Polynesian Bowl to have this game. "All of the coaches that have been calling me. I can't tell the number of coaches who have called me and texted me around the state of Arizona thanking us for doing this, because they know there's not a lot of guys on the radar for small colleges around the country."
Camarillo, who was a part of 12 state championships at Saguaro as part of the staffs under Mike Reardon, John Sanders and Jason Mohns since arriving at Saguaro in 2005, assembled an all-star cast of former high school coaches.
Former Glendale Cactus coach Larry Fetkenhier is Team Arizona's head coach. His offensive coordinator is former long-time college offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, who lives in Scottsdale and helps young quarterbacks. Mazzone was Higley coach Eddy Zubey's OC in 2022 when the Knights won the first of back-to-back 5A state titles. Gary Hernandez, who helped Saguaro when it won the Open state title in 2021, is the defensive coordinator. Former Saguaro head coach John Sanders and former Chandler Hamilton coach Steve Belles are part of the staff, Fetkenhier said.
That's 11 state championships among the former head coaches: Belles had five, Sanders four and Fetkenhier two.
Because the AIA won't allow current Arizona high school coaches to be part of an all-star game like this, former coaches got involved to lead the Arizona team.
'I want to function'
This helps give seniors last-hour exposure to college coaches. The players, the coaches, everybody is taking this seriously, pouring their hearts into this one game. Players big and small have come from Payson, Show Low, Lakeside, Tucson, even two players on the reservation at Hopi.
For Fetkenhier, he wasn't just going to go through the emotions as he led four practices with Thursday's walk-through at Ottawa to prepare the seniors for their last opportunity, which they hope are "offertunities"
"Coaching, it's OK periodically," Fetkenhier said. "At a few schools, I'll talk to the kids. This thing popped up. Jim Camarillo called and asked if I wanted to be the head coach. I don't want to just stand there and wave to the crowd. I want to function."
Among the seniors participating are Saguaro quarterback Mason Bray, Apollo quarterback/athlete Trey Smith, Apollo wide receiver/defensive back Kamarion Bell, Lakeside Blue Ridge wide receiver David Simmons and Northwest Christian quarterback Evan Tarasenko.
After his long, successful Cactus coaching career ended, Fetkenhier six years ago moved into a retirement community in north Peoria, did some traveling and played on a softball team.
"When you retire, you need a filler," Fetkenhier said. "It scared me when I retired. What's going to happen? I concluded I needed a filler.
"It's great living here. You reach a point you need to find a filler in your life. I don't like golfing enough to do that. People say, 'Travel every day.' That's BS. Working out is part of a filler. I had to tweak how I live."
All-star kids, with an all-star coaching staff
Fetkenhier mentioned his staff, saying, "They're coaching their butts off. It's amazing."
"I sent a text to them, saying, 'I can see why you guys won so many rings,'" Fetkenhier said.
This game is for anybody who does not have a Division I scholarship offer. He has to be an NCAA predictor, Fetkenhier said, meaning they would qualify for entry into a school. He said more than 100 kids registered.
"It's important this game represents Arizona," Fetkenhier said. "We've got Tucson and it spreads to Hopi. That's a positive thing.
"The other thing I'm getting out of this, the kids are really good kids. Their reaction is, 'Yes sir, no sir.' I'm rejuvenated by the youth of America."
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Offertunity Bowl' helps Arizona HS football player recruiting
