Steve Coburn named new North Sanpete football coach

Former Snow College football coach Steve Coburn, who was forced to resign in December, has been hired as the new head football coach at North Sanpete High.

Principal Jim Bowles offered him the job last Friday, and Coburn jumped at the chance to remain in the Sanpete County area.

"First, it keeps my family in the area where we love to work and live, so that was one of the main objectives in this situation," said Coburn. "No. 2, it gives me a chance to continue to work with young men who need some direction and guidance, and an opportunity in football."

Coburn was the head coach at Snow College for five years, and amassed a 53-7 record during that stretch.

For undisclosed reasons, Snow College president Scott Wyatt decided to take the football program in another direction at the end of the 2010 season.

"He decided to make that change. I'm just very excited about the legacy I left there, the winningest coach in school history and the many great young men who went through my program. I wish them the best there," said Coburn.

Coburn will serve as a physical education teacher at North Sanpete, and his principal is very excited about the hiring.

"He can bring his coaching expertise. I think he can bring our program back and do what we need to do in rebuilding our program," said Bowles.

Coburn graduated from Bonneville High in Idaho Falls, and played college football at Montana Tech and Ricks College. He graduated from BYU with a degree in physical education.

This is his fourth different head coaching job at the high school level in Utah.

He was the head coach at Morgan from 1988 to 1989, and then moved to Cottonwood as the school's defensive coordinator for four years. In 1994 he took the head job at Ogden, and guided the school to the 3A semifinals in 1997.

In 1998 he moved back to Cottonwood as the head coach for two seasons before moving onto Snow College as the defensive coordinator. He was eventually named the head coach at Snow in 2006.

At North Sanpete, Coburn is taking over a program that went 2-8 under coach Casey Jenson last year.

The school hasn't had a winning season since 2007, but Coburn is committed to turning that around.

"I'm here at the school. And there's a buzz around the school already with the excitement and the change," he said.

e-mail: jedward@desnews.com