RICHFIELD, Utah-Thursday evening, Richfield High School athletic director Richard Barton announced the Wildcats had hired a new football coach with an impeccable pedigree.

Jason Hitchens, who has successfully coached high school football in the greater Los Angeles area in the past, has come to Richfield.

Hitchens is best known for leading the St. Margaret’s Tartans of the California Interscholastic Federation to a 14-0 record, winning the school’s first state title in the CIF.

Additionally, he led the Corona Del Mar Sea Kings to a 10-3 record and their first league title in 22 years after they went 3-7 the previous season.

Hitchens, who attended Portland State on a football scholarship, went 71-33-2 as a head coach in California high school football.

Hitchens stepped away from coaching in 2011 to focus more time on his young family and gain a healthier life balance and perspective.

The Hitchens family, which consists of children aged 13, 11, 10 and 8, decided to come to Richfield so they could live in a moral, family-friendly environment.

Barton stated that Richfield High School has appreciated departing head coach Eric Thorson during his four years at the helm of the Wildcats’ football program and respects his decision to move to Preston, Idaho to be closer to his wife’s family.

Barton also said the Wildcats feel “very fortunate” that a coach of Hitchens’ caliber would come to Richfield when he was in high demand for numerous coaching opportunities in California.