James F. Paronto (April 25, 1943 – December 11, 2023) is a former

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player, coach, and official. He served at the head football coach at Adams State College—now known as

Adams State University Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. History Adams State was founded in 1921 as a teacher's college. Billy ...

—from 1977 to 1980 and at Mesa State College—now known as

Colorado Mesa University Colorado Mesa University is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado. The university's other locations include Bishop Campus, which houses Western Colorado Community College in northwestern Grand Junction, and a regional campus in Mont ...

—from 1990 to 1993, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coaching record of 41–43. He is the father of

Kris Paronto Kristian Joaquin "Tanto" Paronto (born March 2, 1971) is an American author, businessman, and former U.S. Army Ranger and CIA security contractor. He is known for his actions while part of the CIA annex security team during the 2012 terrorist at ...

Playing career

Paronto played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Adams State Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. History Adams State was founded in 1921 as a normal school, teacher's co ...

, 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

team.

Coaching career

Paronto was the 14th head football coach at Adams State College—now known as

—in

Alamosa, Colorado Alamosa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,806 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colora ...

and he held that position for four seasons, from 1977 until 1980. His coaching record at Adams State was 22–19. At Adams State, he was named NAIA District Coach of the Year in 1974. He later became the head coach of the

Colorado Mesa Mavericks The Colorado Mesa Mavericks (formerly Mesa State Mavericks) are the athletic teams that represent Colorado Mesa University, located in Grand Junction, Colorado, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Mavericks compete as members of the ...

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. Paronto also coached as an assistant at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU) and

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

Sports administration and officiating

In July 2003, Paronto was named the coordinator of baseball umpires for the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

. 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.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paronto, Jim 1943 births 2023 deaths American football quarterbacks Basketball referees Adams State Grizzlies baseball coaches Adams State Grizzlies baseball players Adams State Grizzlies football coaches Adams State Grizzlies football players BYU Cougars football coaches Colorado Mesa Mavericks football coaches Oregon State Beavers football coaches High school football coaches in California High school football coaches in Colorado