Alex Wakefield is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Higley High School for AZPreps365.com<

Though often billed as a star, a quarterback’s true role on a football team’s offense is to facilitate the success of others. Whether passing to wide receivers or handing off to a running back, a good quarterback is graded on what they have helped others achieve.

For Higley’s 20-year-old former quarterback Jacob Sarmiento, now the freshman football team’s offensive coordinator, it was a penchant for helping others that made leading an offense so seamless and now makes coaching so fulfilling.

Football is one of Sarmiento’s great loves, but it is his commitment to family that has kept him with Higley. Sarmiento has two brothers, 15 and 21, with special needs, and he now works as a full-time paraprofessional assisting the school’s special needs students.

Sarmiento describes his time with Higley’s special needs students as symbiotic, bringing benefits to both the students and himself.

“I’ve been living in this situation, I understand how to treat kids with different disabilities,” Sarmiento said. “If I find someone on the street with a disability I know how to approach them, give them a hug, give them a high five. I feel like working here [as a] paraprofessional with the kids has helped me tremendously throughout my life, and hopefully one day it will get me in a spot where I need to be.”

Sarmiento’s passion for assisting students with special needs began with his participation alongside his brother in Unified Sports as a high school student at Higley. According to the Special Olympics website, Unified Sports “joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team,” with the intention of developing an inclusive atmosphere that fosters respect and understanding.

 “Oh, it’s a great time. Unified is so much fun,” Sarmiento said. “Seeing [the players] smile when they make a basket, or throw a touchdown, or catch a touchdown, it’s amazing.”

Unified Sports plays a significant role on Higley’s campus, which features two Unified Physical Education courses (each with a waiting list) and a spring assembly dedicated to honoring Unified Sports athletes. Higley athletic director Aaron Dille said Sarmiento has played an important part in expanding Unified Sports’ reach on campus.

“Jacob was a part of [Unified Sports] from the very beginning,” Dille said. “He was literally the ambassador to the state for it… and he continues to help run it. He’s the picture of how to do it right.”

One student introduced to Unified Sports through Sarmiento’s influence was former Higley starting quarterback Kai Millner.

“I didn’t have a wide knowledge of Unified, and he brought me into it,” Millner said. “It was amazing throughout my high school career. It was something that I’m really grateful for that he did for me.”

Millner, now a quarterback at Cal, developed a close friendship with Sarmiento in high school, an unusual bond for two players at the same position. He said Sarmiento’s commitment to helping others starts with his family.

“He’s somebody who is extremely supportive within his family unit,” Millner said. “He’s a great brother, a great son, a great nephew, and all those things inside his family unit that I think kind of carry over and are why he’s so great as a friend, as a teammate, as a coach and as a leader.”

Sarmiento’ willingness to support Higley’s special needs community while playing quarterback impressed Dille, who in turn nominated Sarmiento to represent the school at the AIA’s student leadership conference.

At the conference, which was designed as an opportunity for students from across the state to network with AIA executives and practice leadership skills, Sarmiento represented both Higley and Unified Sports.

“We really couldn’t pick a better representative to represent our student athletes in a positive light than Jacob,” Dille said.

As Sarmiento approached his high school graduation in spring 2021, he was given the opportunity to remain with Higley to pursue two of his greatest passions: assisting special needs students and Higley football. After Sarmiento’s days as a paraprofessional, he spends his afternoons as the offensive coordinator for the school’s freshman football team, all while balancing online classes at Chandler Gilbert Community College.

Sarmiento said his strong relationship with Higley head football coach Eddy Zubey made staying with the school an easy decision.

“Coach Zubey, ever since I met him, my freshman year, he’s always had my back,” Sarmiento said. “When I graduated high school I was kind of bummed that I wasn’t going to go play D-I, but he offered me the job to coach here. He said that I’m a really good fit for him [given] the knowledge he knows that I had. He always tells me every single day that he always has my back, and just knowing that I have that behind me is amazing.”

Zubey, who is close to completing his 13th year as Higley’s coach, has established an impressive coaching tree across the state. Joe Ortiz, once a Zubey assistant, is coaching at Perry High School after winning two state championships with Cactus High School. Westwood High School coach Brandon Large also began his coaching career under Zubey at Higley. Dille insists that Sarmiento will ultimately be in the same conversation.

“Jacob is the next big thing,” Dille said.

It is rare to see a high school athletic program hire a graduating senior right out of school. Dille said Sarmiento’s character made him a strong culture fit for Higley and that the decision was easy, despite Sarmiento’s youth.

“That’s definitely unique, it’s not something we normally do,” Dille said. “To be very honest, there was no hesitation on our part about that. There’s never been doubt that we should trust Jacob… We’ve always just viewed Jacob as ready for that job. And he was.”

Zubey said he knew Sarmiento had a future in coaching when he observed the way his teammates responded to him in his playing days. The effort Sarmiento put into his relationships with his peers, Zubey said, gave Sarmiento a knack for earning and keeping his teammates’ attention.

“To be able to do that without the on-field accolades, is very unique to see in high school,” Zubey said.

Sarmiento’s compassionate approach to his work in the classroom echoes his coaching style.

“[My goal] as a football coach, honestly, is just to see my players succeed,” Sarmiento said. “Having them know that I’m always going to be there, even if it’s at home, if they need help with math or reading, I’m always going to be there.”

On top of his duties with the freshman team, Sarmiento is a staple on the sidelines of Higley’s Junior Varsity and Varsity football games, developing relationships with players and supplementing the work of the teams’ assistant coaches. When Higley won the 5A Arizona state championship in early December, he was among the first on the field celebrating with Zubey and his players.

When asked about where he saw himself in 10 years, Sarmiento didn’t hesitate.

“At a D-I school, or in the NFL. That’s my goal.”