Former Southern Oregon University and Ashland High football coach Charlie Hall has been hired as Phoenix High School’s next head football coach, the school announced Thursday. Hall brings to the Pirates 40 years of coaching experience, the last six at SOU, where he led the Raiders to the NAIA national semifinals in 2017. That same year, Hall was voted the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year and an AFCA National Coach of the Year finalist. Hall, who will also be a teacher at Phoenix High, addressed his new team during a meeting in the PHS sports and activities classroom Thursday morning and told about 20 players on hand that he was excited to get started. “It’s going to be a sacrifice, it’s going to be a commitment,” Hall told the players during the introductory PowerPoint presentation. “This is going to be the greatest high school story in years. What this community has gone through in the last three years …you’re going to be a part of the greatest story. It may not happen this year but you are certainly going to launch that going forward.” After the meeting, Hall said the relationships he has in the community are part of why he ultimately decided to take on the challenge, and stressed that building on those connections will be a big part of his rebuilding plan. “To me, like I told the team today this is going to be a great story,” he said. “I’m positive that we can move the needle and get it to a point where Phoenix High School can be super competitive at the classification that we’re going to play at. I believe in what I can bring to the district, I believe in hiring a great staff that is committed to the same values. Now it’s about trying to build those relationships with the student athletes and getting them to believe that we can do the same.” Hall enjoyed much success as a prep football coach at Ashland High before taking over at SOU in 2017, leading the Grizzlies to four conference titles, nine playoff appearances and a berth in the 2015 Class 5A state championship game. Under Hall, Ashland twice qualified for the state semifinals and advanced to the state quarterfinals six times, and he was voted the conference coach of the year four times. Hall was also an assistant coach responsible for defensive game plan and play-calling for the Grizzlies during their 1998 state championship run. Hall left Ashland to become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Northern Arizona University in 2001. There, he was named the American Football Monthly NCAA Division IAA Offensive Coordinator of the Year in 2003 while helping the Lumberjacks finish as the 2003 Big Sky Conference co-champions. Upon taking the job at SOU in 2017 Hall promptly guided the Raiders to an undefeated Frontier Conference season and two playoff wins before suffering an overtime loss on the road to No. 2-ranked Reinhardt in the national semifinals. Hall was named the AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018. Phoenix-Talent School District superintendent Brent Barry was also on hand for Hall’s introduction and briefly addressed the team after Hall’s speech. “I hope you’re excited because you’re going to remember this day …five years from now, 10 years from now – the start of something amazing in a program," Barry said.