Phoenix’s North High pulled a big surprise on Monday morning (July 14) by announcing that former Mesa Mountain View and Chandler Basha football coach Bernie Busken will be its new coach.

Busken led three state-championship teams at Mountain View and coached at Basha the last four seasons.

It is a bold move for North, which has struggled for quite some time on the football field, as have its fellow schools in the Phoenix Union High School District.

And it is an interesting move for Busken. If he was looking for a new challenge, he certainly has found it. Perhaps he can become the Valley’s version of Jeff Scurran, who has done a great job turning around struggling programs in the Tucson area.

Hopefully Busken can mold the Mustangs into a playoff team, and that that success will increase athletes’ interest in playing football at North. The school has had success in basketball and in track, so there’s no reason why it can’t do so in football.