Mike Morgan, one of seven Arizona high school football coaches to reach the 300-win plateau, is set to return as the coach of St. Johns, pending district approval.

After coaching for 33 years, Morgan announced his retirement from coaching during the 2014-15 school year. But when last year’s head coach, Tony Neubauer, stepped down this summer, it left St. Johns scrambling for a new coach.

Morgan was preparing to coach a St. Johns feeder school this season for the second year in a row before St. Johns called. Morgan, 60, is expected to coach St. Johns for one season while the school searches for it next head coach.  

“It’s not about me,” Morgan said. “We’ve talked about that. It’s only about the kids. We’ll really strive to make a run at the end of the season. We’ll run the midnight oil for the kids.”

The season officially kicks off in about three weeks for St. Johns, and St. Johns is doing its best to get its players in the weight room before the first official practice.

The team went 7-4 last year and reached the playoffs. Neubauer was expecting about 15 starters to return from that team, but how many will actually return to help fill the varsity and junior varsity ranks remains to be seen.