Casa Grande is 6-1 overall and 2-0 in section play. The Division IV team has not made the postseason since 2006 and even then the Cougars were seeded No. 16 and had to face No. 2 Mesa Mountain View in the first round where they lost 57-7.  It's been a rough road ever since.

The program put together four wins in 2011 and that was the most since the 8-win season of 2006.  Incredibly, the six wins from this year alone matches the combined total from the last three years. 

Six winning seasons in the past 35 years defined the culture. No more.

A native of Casa Grande, former University of Arizona and Denver Bronco cornerback Randy Robbins came home to take over athletic director duties two years ago. (Robbins served as coach and AD at Casa Grande from 1996-1998 but he left to join forces with former Arizona coach Dick Tomey.)

He saw a culture not conducive to a healthy football program last year and knew something had to change so he opened up the coaching position.

"I asked the players what they wanted in a new coach and they told me someone who was challenging, someone who made them work hard and someone who wouldn’t let up," Robbins explained.

"I asked the parents what they wanted and they told me someone who was challenging and someone who would made their kids work hard."

Four highly qualified candidates applied for the position and former Scottsdale Prep coach Jake Barro came out on top.

"It was a tough decision," Robbins said on choosing Barro over the other applicants. "But after talking to him I realized our philosophies clicked. He is compassionate but firm with his program.

"Barro tells the kids they are, 'All in or all out' and that's how it has to be," Robbins added.

Barro was an assistant varsity coach at Seton Catholic for three years and was on the  staff when the school won the Division IV state championship in 2012.  He joined his mentor Jimmy Jones at Mesquite the next year and the program went 11-2.

"I learned a ton about how to change a culture and build a winning football program from Coach Jones. " Barro said.

"After that year I became the head coach at Scottsdale Prep. I really enjoyed my time there and loved working with those kids. I was hired by AD Matt Harris (now basketball coach at AZ Christian University) who is a fantastic coach. Matt Harris resigned to take the job at ACU and the new AD and I had conflicting philosophies about building a program. I was forced to step down mid way through the year."

Robbins witnessed a program where football players took summers off. There were no passing league teams and no workouts. He saw a chance to change that culture under Barro so he took the chance and it has paid off.

"If you miss the summer then you will be far behind and trying to catch up," Robbins explained on how he saw Barro work in the off season.

"We didn't start at square one in the fall. We hit the ground running," Robbins added.

The team has a good mixture of juniors and seniors on the roster with the bulk of the numbers coming from juniors such as QB Brock Hall (2,057 yards passing with 27 TDs), running backs Trenton Diaz and James Dodd, who have combined for over 500 yards and 10 TDS, and receiver Trevor Russell (806 yards, 13 TDs).

Senior linebacker Garrett Thomas leads the team with 104 tackles.

"This team has been successful because of the hard work they put in during the offseason," Barro concurred. "We demanded a strict commitment from them during the offseason and they delivered. They worked extremely hard in the weight room and on the field during 7th hour.

"They committed to attend every summer work out beginning at 5:30 am and they competed well in various passing tournaments and linemen challenges. We took them up to Show Low for camp in July. That was when the kids really started to come together as a team and become mentally tough," he added.

The Cougars are ranked No. 14 this week but the team controls their own destiny with an undefeated 2-0 mark in Section V.  The team travels to No. 19 Florence (3-4, 1-1) this Friday, hosts No. 10 Combs (4-3, 2-0) next week and then finishes at No. 33 Coolidge (1-6, 0-2) the following week.

If all goes to plan, the game at home against Combs should be for the section title and an automatic berth to the state playoffs.

There hasn't been this much excitement since the Al Van Hazel era from in 1956-61. 

 "The success so far this year has been huge for our program," Barro added. "The kids are starting to believe. The culture is changing. This means that we still have a chance at winning our section and getting into playoffs. Once In the playoffs anything can happen. We are a tough team."