Nash Darragh is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain View Mesa High School for AZPreps365.com. 

Jesus Arzaga is the head baseball coach at Mountain View High School. But did you also know that coach Arzaga is head girls flag football coach and is a Spanish teacher at the school?

It’s safe to say that Arzaga is a busy man, but that's not even the half of it as it’s also worth mentioning that coach Arzaga also has four young children at home. Arzaga has been coaching baseball for a long time.

“So this is going to be my fifth year as head coach,” Arzaga said. “I was the assistant coach for Mike Thiel for two years, I coached at Cochise College down in Douglas for five years, one year at Desert Mountain High School where we won the state championship in 2014. Then I coached one year at Westwood High School where my alum was.”

A lot goes into being a head coach for a varsity sport at a big high school. But a lot more work goes into being a head coach for two sports along with being a full time teacher. Arzaga is great at organizing and never wasting time.

“Another thing is having good assistant coaches. I have a few coaches that are working in the school district and others that are able to take their time and be able to be there when I'm not there, especially with girls flag football,” Arzaga said. “I think it's been really great especially these past two years because I took that in, but I think those are the two most important things, and having the support staff of this school is extremely important."

Whether it’s on the diamond, on the football field, or in the classroom, Arzaga's point of focus is always helping and supporting his students and players. Juan Hurtado is a senior on the baseball team. He played for coach Arzaga for four seasons and had him as a Spanish teacher.

“I had him as a teacher for a bit, it’s definitely different, he’s very helpful, still talks about baseball, very playful, just a really nice guy. He teaches you stuff really about life, school, and helps you out. He’s talked to me about college and stuff. He’s helped me out in that aspect. He has pushed me to work harder. He’s taught me Spanish because that’s what he teaches,” Hurtado said. “He kind of gave me a different aspect on how to look at the world, and the baseball team and it has definitely helped out the past few years, and has put me in a better position.”

On the diamond Arzaga is all gas, says senior catcher Mason Biship.

“Being around coach Arzaga, he’s a very intense coach, he's always amped up, but you can just tell in his voice, it’s never an anger towards players,” Biship said. “But just that intensity as he coaches us. There's just a desire to get better, and help progress the program.” 

Arzaga admits he couldn't do any of this without his wife. It was apparent with him that the support at home is the most important thing for him. 

“The very first thing is my wife, she’s a big supporter in everything that I do. Her being able to manage the kids on a daily basis, you know we're really busy with their activities and what not, so without her it’d be nearly impossible.”