Coach Ben Kullos is taking over an O’Connor program that finished 4-7 and 5-6 in the last two years, but after spending the entire 2025 calendar year at the northwest Phoenix school, it doesn’t feel that way.

How often does a coach take over a 4-7 team with an offensive tackle committed to play for Ohio State? Or another tackle with six Division I offers, plus a long snapper committed to Michigan?

Ultimately, the biggest question is, how will the Eagles respond for a very different way of doing things with a younger staff. Former coach Brian Cole had success at O’Connor, leading the Eagles to a surprise Open Division berth in 2022.

And Cole has coached in the Valley for decades — winning his first state title at Phoenix North Canyon in 2005, years before Kullos played his first game at

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