Blaine Monkres leaves Dixie State, will coach at Murray High School

File photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Former Dixie High School football head coach Blaine Monkres has accepted the head coaching position at Murray High School.

Monkres, who resigned at Dixie High School to take the offensive coordinator position at Dixie State in 2015, will take over for Mike Richmond, who had guided the Spartans to a 7-6 finish last year. Richmond had coached MHS for four years. Murray finished third in 4A Region 6 behind Olympus and Kearns.

Blaine Monkres
Blaine Monkres

Monkres has over 25 years of coaching experience at the high school level. He has guided his teams to three state championships, and eight region championships. His teams have qualified for the state tournament 21 of his 25 years. Previous to Dixie High School, he has also been the head coach at Fremont and Morgan. He was named Utah Football Coach of the Year in 1993 and 2012.

Monkres’ spouse Kim, the former athletic director at Desert Hills High School, had taken a position in Salt Lake City with the Utah High School Activities Association as Assistant Director in 2015.

“It will certainly be nicer working closer to her,” said Coach Monkres. “But that was clearly not the decisive factor in taking the position.”

Monkres was considered earlier for the vacated Dixie State University head coaching position that went to defensive coordinator Shay McClure. At the press conference announcing his hiring, McClure said that Monkres would remain as one of his staff.

“I was asked to remain on staff, but in a lesser capacity,” said Coach Monkres. “They wanted me to step down as offensive coordinator and to coach the running backs. Coach McClure wanted to switch our offensive system and has hired someone outside the program to take over as offensive coordinator. When that happened, I began to explore other opportunities.”

Former Dixie Flyer Head Coach Blaine Monkres congratulates a player after a touchdown, Dixie vs. Hurricane, 2014 3AA Football State Championship, Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 21, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Former Dixie Flyer Head Coach Blaine Monkres congratulates a player after a touchdown, Dixie vs. Hurricane, 2014 3AA Football State Championship, Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 21, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Murray High, located in the Salt Lake Valley about six miles south of Salt Lake City, graduated 27 seniors from last year’s squad but return 1000-yard rusher Hunter Jones.

“The school has a good program,” said Monkres. “I talked to several coaches and players that have been in or near the program and all had positive responses. I will also work at the school full time as a teacher.”

Monkres has a master’s degree in education from Utah State and a bachelor’s from Weber State in physical education.

Monkres and his wife Kim have two sons (Matt and Derek) and two daughters (Mindy and Kylee).

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

 

 

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