Jerry Dawson completed his 12th season as the pitching coach at Yavapai College in 2022 after serving as head baseball coach at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, from 1973-2010. Dawson will begin a new chapter in his coaching career as he enters his first season on staff at Scottsdale Community College in 2023.
Over 37 seasons, Dawson guided Chaparral to eight Arizona high school state championships as well as four runner-up finishes. His teams captured 24 regional titles, and he was voted the ABCA/Diamond Sports National High School Coach of the Year in 2004.
Dawson retired from Chaparral with the most career wins of any high school coach in the state with a 774-301 (.720) career record and having earned National High School Coach of the Year honors on five occasions.
His program produced more than 160 graduates who continued their baseball careers at the college or professional levels, including six current or former Major Leaguers, most notably Paul Konerko, Brian Bannister and Ike Davis.
In addition to his coaching duties, Dawson taught Physical Education at Chaparral for over 30 years. He also served as the Physical Education Department Chairman and the school’s Athletic Director for more than 20 years before retiring from teaching in 2004.
In his 12 years at Yavapai, Dawson was part of a staff that sent more than 30 pitchers to the Division I level and saw seven pitchers taken in the Major League Baseball draft. He also helped guide the Roughriders to their fourth NJCAA Div. I World Series title with their 5-2 victory over Texas junior college powerhouse San Jacinto College in 2016.
Dawson also served as head coach of the U.S. Junior National team that competed in the 2005 Pan Am Games, winning a silver medal. Prior to that, he served as an assistant coach on the Junior National team staff in 2004, which competed in the World Games in Taipei.
He has been elected to six Halls of Fame, including the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, the National High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Dawson is a graduate of Missouri State University and earned a master’s degree in education from Arizona State University. He also served as a Military Police Officer in the United States Army and completed a tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam.
