Tom Joseph has traveled rejuvenation road several times in 20 years as a football coach in Arizona. He's good at it, too.

Whether it was at Superior  (12 games over .500) where he took over in his first head coaching chance in 1992, at Marcos de Niza  (16 games over .500) in 1996 or Mesa Mountain View in 2002 (65 games over .500), successful, solid teams have followed virtually every season.

Sent packing at Mountain View last November after an under-appreciated, nine-year run with the Toros, Joseph is back in rebuild mode with Corona del Sol, which won one game last year and has dropped 10 games in a row. His task starting out at with the Aztecs is eerily similar to those faced at Superior and Marcos de Niza. In every case, Joseph has taken over a program that was dealing with some kind of messy situation.

"I'm re-invigorated," Joseph said as the Aztces prepare for their preseason scrimmage later this week against Horizon. "We'll have to try and make a change here real quick. I don't know quite where we're at yet, we're just plugging along. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun.  I like these situations. It's what makes coaching a challenge."

Superior and Marcos won just a couple games each the year before he took over those programs. Joseph was 27-15 in four years at Superior. Didn't win a state title, but got the Panthers to a title game. Marcos de Niza was more of a challenge with tougher competition overall. The Padres didn't win a state title, but were playoff bound more than they'd been the first half of the decade of the 1990s.

Taking over at Mountain View wasn't the same as Superior and Marcos de Niza with a winning tradition and solid work ethic intact. Joseph went about things differently -- the same way he'll do them at Corona and did them at Superior and Marcos.

"The kids have to buy in to what you ask," Joseph said. "The discipline part is the hardest. You have to teach them how to be a team and work as a group. Forget the individual stuff. All that takes time. Sometimes more than you like, but it has to be done."

Steps forward at Superior and Marcos de Niza were gradual. Each was a playoff contender when Joseph left. Mountain View did not miss a beat winning a state title and playing in two others. Since 2002 Mountain View is only team to win a big-school title in that span other than Hamilton or Brophy.

Corona can expect the same with Joseph at the helm. The Aztecs schedule allows room for success the first half with a staunch opener against Basha. The final stretch of games features the likes of Mountain Pointe, Chandler and Hamilton.

"Right now we're the rudder and they're rowing," Joseph said. "We want to be headed in the right direction."