James F. Paronto (April 25, 1943 – December 11, 2023) is a former baseball and American football player, coach, and official. He served at the head football coach at Adams State College—now known as Adams State University—from 1977 to 1980 and at Mesa State College—now known as Colorado Mesa University—from 1990 to 1993, compiling a career college football coaching record of 41–43. He is the father of Kris Paronto.[2]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 25, 1943 Grand Junction, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | December 11, 2023 (aged 80) |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1961 | Pepperdine |
| 1962–1965 | Adams State |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1966 | Palm Springs HS (CA) (backfield) |
| 1967–1972 | Monte Vista HS (CO) |
| 1973–1976 | Adams State (DC) |
| 1977–1980 | Adams State |
| 1981–1982 | BYU (GA) |
| 1983–1984 | BYU (ILB) |
| 1985 | Oregon State (RB) |
| 1986 | Oregon State (ST/RB) |
| 1987–1989 | Central HS (CO) |
| 1990–1993 | Mesa State |
| Baseball | |
| 1974–1976 | Adams State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 41–43 (college football) |
| Bowls | 0–1 |
| Tournaments | Football 2–1 (NAIA D-I playoffs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 2 RMAC (1980, 1990) | |
| Awards | |
| Baseball NAIA District Coach of the Year (1974)[1] | |
Playing career
editParonto played quarterback[3] at Adams State, graduating in 1966 and serving as team captain in 1965. He earned accolades of Academic All-Conference, Second Team Academic All-American, and Second Team All-Conference. While at Adams State, he also played on the school's baseball team.[1]
Coaching career
editParonto was the 14th head football coach at Adams State College—now known as Adams State University—in Alamosa, Colorado and he held that position for four seasons, from 1977 until 1980. His coaching record at Adams State was 22–19.[4] At Adams State, he was named NAIA District Coach of the Year in 1974.[1] He later became the head coach of the Colorado Mesa Mavericks football program from 1990 to 1993. While at Mesa, his teams accumulated a record of 19 wins and 24 losses and won their conference championship in 1990.[5]
Paronto also coached as an assistant at Brigham Young University (BYU)[6] and Oregon State[7][8]
Sports administration and officiating
editIn July 2003, Paronto was named the coordinator of baseball umpires for the Mountain West Conference. In addition to his baseball officiating, Paronto worked in the Western Athletic Conference as a basketball official and was selected in 1982 as an alternate in a regional postseason game. He also was Secretary Rules Editor for the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee (2003–2015) and officiated baseball for over 40 years. He worked the National Junior College World Series 15 times took various on-field assignments in several conference championships.[9]
Head coaching record
editCollege football
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams State Indians (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) (1977–1980) | |||||||||
| 1977 | Adams State | 3–7 | 3–6 | 6th | |||||
| 1978 | Adams State | 6–4 | 5–3 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1979 | Adams State | 5–5 | 4–4 | T–4th | |||||
| 1980 | Adams State | 8–3 | 7–1 | T–1st | |||||
| Adams State: | 22–19 | 19–14 | |||||||
| Mesa State Mavericks (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) (1990–1993) | |||||||||
| 1990 | Mesa State | 8–4 | 4–0 | 1st | L NAIA Division I Championship | ||||
| 1991 | Mesa State | 3–7 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1992 | Mesa State | 3–8 | 3–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1993 | Mesa State | 5–5 | 5–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| Mesa State: | 19–24 | 15–9 | |||||||
| Total: | 41–43 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c "Hall of Fame-Jim Paronto". Adams State University. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ Notarianni, Alicia (November 5, 2017). "Security contractor Kris Paronto to discuss events of Sept. 11, 2012, at local fundraiser". Herald-Mail Media. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ "RMC Teams Face Tests This Week". The Daily Herald. September 23, 1965. p. 7. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ College Football Data Warehouse Archived January 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Adams State Grizzlies all-time coaching records
- ^ "Colorado Mesa University Football - Coaching History" (PDF). Colorado Mesa Mavericks. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ Call, Jeff (July 17, 2009). "BYU football: Edwards built great system, coaching staff". Deseret News. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ Rohman, Katie (June 5, 2015). "Paronto shares stories of Benghazi, life battles". Washington County Enterprise and Pilot Tribune. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ "Oregon State assistant football coaches Jim Paronto and Ed Sowash Resign". United Press International. December 2, 1986. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ "Jim Paronto-Coordinator of Baseball Officials". Mountain West Conference. Retrieved May 23, 2018.