Dixie football coach Andy Stokes is leaving the St. George school to replace Cary Whittingham at Timpview.
The Provo school confirmed the hiring on its website.
Stokes, a St. George native who compiled a 27-9 record and won three region championships in three years as the Flyers’ coach, takes over one of Utah’s most storied high-school programs.
The Thunderbirds have won seven titles since 2004. Whittingham resigned earlier this year after a successful stint at the Provo school.
While Stokes’ roots are in St. George, he has quite a football career. After attending what was then Dixie College and William Penn University, he was drafted as a tight end by the New England Patriots in 2005. He later played for Arizona and Seattle.
After returning to St. George, Stokes co-owned and was a player-coach for the Dixie Rebels, the local semi-pro team. That team has a 42-6 record.
Stokes began coaching at Dixie High in 2008, became the offensive-line coach in 2011 and taught at the venerable St. George school since 2013.
“Timpview High School just won the football lottery,” Riverton coach Blaine Monkres said in the Timpview release. Monkres hired Stokes as an assistant at Dixie when he was the coach there.