Coaching staff

Mountain Pointe Football Coaching Staff

Coach Lauer

Coach Lauer is entering his 33 year of coaching with this being his 4th year as Head Coach at Mountain Pointe where they reached the playoffs last year.

Coach Lauer began his coaching career at his alma mater, William Penn High School in York Pennsylvania in 1991. He was an assistant coach and then promoted to head coach in 2002.  He served as Head Coach there until he relocated to Phoenix Arizona in 2004, when he joined the coaching staff at Mountain Pointe.  Coach Lauer coached at  Mountain Pointe for 13 years as an assistant coach. Along the way, he was the running backs coach for Phoenix College in 2008 when the Bears finished 12th in the country and posted their best record in 20 years. In addition, he coached at Marcos de Niza High School for two years as Head Coach where they reached the quarter finals during his second year.

Coach Lauer resides in Phoenix with his wife Terri of 31 years. They have two children, Ericka (29) a 2011 graduate of Mountain Pointe and Trey (27) a 2014 graduate of Mountain Pointe.

Brian Whitacre

Coaching Career: Third year coaching at Mountain Pointe Varsity Offensive Coordinator and Varsity Quarterbacks

Previous Coaching Positions:  Westwood High School, Phoenix Christian High School, Cesar Chavez High School, Casteel High School

Family:  Coach Whitacre and his wife, Stephenie, have a 11 year old daughter named Ali, a 8 year old son named Beck and a 4 year named Finn

Zac Griffin

Coach Zac Griffin begins his first year back with the Pride, and his 11th as a Varsity Defensive Coordinator. He spent the last five years as Defensive Coordinator at Basha HS. This is a return trip to Mountain Pointe, as he previously spent 2010 - 2016 at teaching and coaching football for the Pride, including four years as the Varsity Defensive Coordinator (2013-2016). Griffin has coached in four State Championship games, winning two, including 2013 with Mountain Pointe and the 2022 Open Division Championship with Basha. 

Coach Griffin teaches social studies at Mountain Pointe. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his lovely wife, Jill, and two beautiful daughters, Olivia and Claire. 

Giovann Melendez

Coach Melendez is returning to the Pride after spending the 2022 season as the Director of Recruiting at New Mexico State. Coach Melendez will be in charge of the Special teams, Defensive Secondary and Equipment Manager for the 2023 season. He is a 2007 Mountain Pointe Graduate, and this will be his 14th year coaching high school football. 

Jerry Porter

Jerry Porter After a year as a Volunteer Coach, Jerry Porter joins the Mountain Pointe Staff as the Receivers & Safety Coach and brings over 21 years of football experience, playing at West Virginia University, including nine years as a wide receiver in the NFL and five years of coaching.  He is an outstanding teacher and great communicator with a strong vision for player development. Jerry has been living in Arizona for the past 6 years.  In his spare time, he likes to play recreational basketball and spend time with his 3 children. 

Marcel Shipp

This is Coach Marcel Shipp’s 2nd season with Mountain Pointe Pride Football.  Coach Shipp played running back for University of Massachusetts where he was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award his Junior year.  He finished his college career with 6,542 rushing yards and went on to sign with the Arizona Cardinals in 2001.  Shipp played with the AZ Cardinals for 7 years.  Upon retiring, Coach Shipp has had various coaching positions with the Las Vegas Loco’s, the Arizona Cardinals, UMASS and the New York Jets.

While in the NFL and after retiring, Coach Shipp has dedicated his time to mentoring youth. He knows although what you display on the field is important, what you display off the field in the classroom is just as important.  It all starts with education; education is the key to any door you want to open. He wants to see kids excel in their talents and interests. Coach Shipp wants kids to follow their dreams and guide them to helping those dreams become a reality.

Kenny Lacy

Coach Lacy is in his 6th season coaching Varsity football.  He played Offensive and Defensive Line for Mountain Pointe HS from 2010-13.  He then went on to play at UCLA where he started 21 games and graduated with a degree in Political Science.  After college, Coach Lacy played a season with the Arizona Rattlers and Massachusetts Pirates in the Arena Football League.  He has since returned home to coach under Coach Lauer and is excited to be back working with student athletes at Mountain Pointe High School! 

Tre Campbell

Coach Campbell played football at Mountain Pointe and graduated in 2013. He then went to play at Scottsdale Community College for 2 years and Georgia State for 2 years. He played football in Geneva for the Geneva Seahawks in 2019. He will be helping with the Varsity team this year. 

Abdul Noah

This will be Coach Abdul Noah’s first year as a Defensive Line Coach at Mountain Pointe.  He competed as a four-year defensive line starter at San Jose State University then went on to play in the NFL and Arena Football League.  Coach Noah is a huge asset to the Pride’s defense.  He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position from which many of his players will benefit from.  Coach Noah enjoys the coaching role as he most recently served as a high school head football coach in the Valley before joining the Pride staff.  With a background in both Criminal Justice and Social Work, he is also a valuable resource to the players on and off the field. 

Janice Rodrigue

Coach Rodrigue (NSCA, ISCA, PX2/Pacific Mental Training Institute) has been involved with student-athletes in roles such as a sports performance coach, a strength and conditioning coach, a team-building and player development coach for over 3 decades. Experiences include winning 2 state high school championships in addition to runners up, and three “Final 4” appearances in college and high school basketball. Rodrigue is a previous recipient of the Mesa District Educator of the Year and MLK Humanitarian awards.

Her work with athletes from elementary to collegiate levels emphasizes both a holistic, mind-body

approach while also incorporating “learning about ones self through adversity” training. 2023 will be

Rodrigues’ fifth season with Mountain Pointe Football and her eighth with Mountain Pointe Athletics.

Dave Wiley

Dave Wiley is in his 4th year with MPHS football, serving as Program Leadership & Character Coach. He also served with coach Lauer at Marcos De Niza HS and has a background in football, both as player and coach. Dave serves all levels of the football program and assists coaching individual positions when needed. His passion is to develop successful servant-leaders, on and off the field.  

Dave is Pastor at Salt River Community Church in Tempe. He has been in full-time ministry for over 20 years; serving in some of the toughest communities in the U.S. and around the world. He is from Atlanta, GA and moved to Tempe in 2018 with his wife Mollie. They have been married over 20 years and Mollie is the Assistant to the A.D. at MPHS. 

Tim Hernandez

Coaching Career:  1998 -2004 Glendale CC Coaching Assistant, 2005 - 2007 Tempe High Freshmen Head Coach / Defensive Line, 2007 -2009 Williams Field High School JV Linebackers/ Running Backs Coach, 2009 - 2011 McClintock High School JV Defensive line / Offensive Line, 2011 - 2018 Marcos De Niza Varsity Linebackers / Co Defensive Coordinator, 2018-2020 Tolleson High Defensive Coordinator, 2021- Present Mountain Pointe Varsity Defensive Ends Coach/ Junior Varsity head Coach Linebackers. 

Education:  Glendale Community College Associates in Teaching, Ottowa University Bachelors in Elementary Education

Personal:  Coach Hernandez is married to wife Clarice with 3 boys.  This will be Coach Hernandez 3rd year coaching at Mountain Pointe High School. 

Javon Cooks

Coach Cooks, who is now a student at Arizona State University studying in Sports Science and Performance Programming, is in his first season as a volunteer coach. Previously, he was a defensive back for San Diego Mesa Community College. Arizona-native Coach Cooks played high school football at Tempe High School, where he was a two timed 1st Team All-Conference Defensive Back and was also named to the All-Arizona 2 nd team. He is eager to start his coaching career and establish connections with players and coaches.

Frank Moreno

Coach Frank Moreno is a  Arizona Native, US Navy Veteran focused on building relationships with colleges and universities across the country. He is also the Defensive coordinator of our Mountain Pointe Girls Flag Football Team.

Donnie Margerum

Coach Donnie is a southern California native. He has been a coach in Arizona for 15 years. Starting with youth football where he led his organization (Maricopa Heat) to #6 in the country. After a season as Gilbert High School Freshman head coach he spent a year developing the Hillcrest Prep Football program. Following Hillcrest, he was sought after to coach Maricopa High School where he assisted for 3 years. He then served as the head football coach for Sequoia Pathway. He has been a dedicated husband since 2007, a seasoned high school football coach, and a true believer in empowering young men to excel in all aspects of life. 

Joel Griffin

Coach Griffin (Coach Griff) has been coaching football at the youth and high school levels for over 26 years. For the past four years he has been coaching an adult women’s tackle football team, the AZ Outkast. Coach Joe was selected as the WFA All-American Offensive Coordinator and is an active member of the Women’s Football Alliance, the largest women’s football league in the country. Coach Griffin was the Head Freshman Coach, Secondary Coach and Receivers Coach for JV and Varsity at Mountain Pointe under Coach Vaughn. In 2006-2007, he was the Head JV Coach and Varsity Assistant Offensive Coordinator at Maricopa High School.  Coach Griffin has run youth football camps and leagues for many years, and has watched many kids grow from mighty mites into college football players.  Coach Griffin’s oldest children graduated from Mountain Pointe High School, and he is excited to be back at Mountain Pointe, where he feels at home. 

Gabriel Spencer

Coach Gabriel Spencer came to Mountain Pointe with 20 years of experience; coaching wide receivers and defensive backs.  He develops, trains, and mentors youth, teaches at a level to help athletes understand the proper way of playing the sport, and helps elevate their talent along the way.  He instructs effective and safe methods of workouts all while promoting a positive environment on the field. Coach Spencer graduated from Mott Community College in Flint Michigan with a degree in Communications and a minor in Business Management in 1998.  

Tyrone Harris

Coach Tyrone Harris has been coaching for the past 23 years.  He has coached and mentored football players at the middle school, high school and college level. Coach Harris spent two seasons at Phoenix College helping the Bears rebuild their football program under Coach Robin Pflugrad. He graduated from Phoenix College with his Associate Degree in Education.

Josh Upchurch

Coach Upchurch played at Esperanza High School in Anaheim, California.  He then went on to play at Sterling College for 4 years where he became the starting Left Guard his freshman year.  Coach Upchurch has been an offensive line coach for 6 years; one year at Sterling College and four with the Women's Semi Pros League for the Phantoms and Outkasts.  This is Coach Upchurch’s second year at Mountain Pointe High School.

Adam Spudich

Coach Adam Spudich is a retired US Army Veteran.  He has two children, Isabelle (17) a Senior in high school and Luke (13) a 8th grader.  He is very happily married to his wife of 18 years, Jessica.  He has a Business Degree from Grand Canyon University.  He returned to coaching after his time in the military with his most recent coaching position was as a Defensive Line Coach at a 5A school before joining the Mountain Pointe coaching staff.  He also helps run a youth football program in Maricopa, AZ.  Coach Spud absolutely love coaching kids and building lifelong relationships with them.  His goal is to help improve players’ lives on and off the field. 

Derrick Woods

Coach Derrick Woods graduated from Mountain Pointe High School in 1998. He had the opportunity to play under Coaches Mark Lovett and Karl Kiefer. He has been coaching youth football for the past 11 years and his team won the championship their very first season. Coach Woods is very passionate about coaching at any level. He believes it is very important to help shape the future of not just his own children but all youth in our community.