Terminating turmoil takes trust. John Bradshaw can bring what that takes.

The long-time Sedona Red Rock High School assistant coach, local business owner and re-creator of Sedona Youth Football is taking on the challenge of being Scorpions head football coach — the school’s third in three years.

“I think all the kids know us, they know how we coach, they know it’s going to be fun,” Bradshaw said. “I’ve got a lot of the young guys I’ve coached that haven’t played for awhile coming back.”

The challenge of youth motivates Bradshaw, who replaced former Youth Football coach Ken Selle after one season.

“Kenny got this great feeling going around for football and it’s carrying forward with us,” Bradshaw said. “I know we’ve got at least eight dynamite freshmen coming in. I’ve got 11 on the [junior varsity] squad and 23 I’m pretty secure with on the varsity.”

Offensively, Bradshaw entrusts long-time assistant Tony Hauserman to develop plays out of a wing formation that won’t involve the tight end.

“We’ll do a lot of the same stuff that Kenny put in there throwing-wise,” Bradshaw said. “We’ll probably wipe out half our offensive playbook. Basically, we just swiped all the good stuff we liked,” he laughed.

Bradshaw inherits a handful of upperclassmen who were veterans of Sedona Youth Football when he brought it back with Hauserman in 2004. They will lead a massive Class of 2017.

“Other than last year, most years I’ve had just sophomores to work with,” he said. “I’d really like to find a big boy for my center, but we’re not going to be light up front: The sophomores this year are huge.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, April 1, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.