By Nate Martinez
On Monday, October 5, Pima Community College named Jim Monaco their permanent athletic director.
The move comes after Monaco served in an interim capacity since November of 2018. He succeeded Edgar Soto, who was the AD since 2009.
Monaco has been active for many years in Pima sports, starting out as an assistant coach for Jeff Scurran. He helped the Arizona Football Hall of Fame coach to a 26-17 overall record between 2000 and 2004 and even made a Bowl game in his last year.
He returned to the Aztecs in 2011, working as the Defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator under Pat Nugent until 2013.
Monaco was named head coach of the Pima football team following the 2013 season and fulfilled that role until the program was cut to accommodate the school’s budget.
Monaco also holds two master’s degrees, one in education from the University of Phoenix and another in Education/Administration from Jones University. He also has his bachelor’s degree in social psychology/Counseling from Park University.
During his tenure as Interim Athletic Director, Monaco was key in landing sponsorship deals with Adidas and Chapman Automotive. Monaco also worked hard to move both the men’s and women’s soccer teams back to playing at the west campus. New lights and a new scoreboard were also added to the fields.
It seems as though that Pima has found their Athletic Director for years to come.