Rexburg, Idaho was recently named the safest town in Idaho by an online public records aggregator. Few Rexburg residents have been gang members, been to prison or even been arrested.

Art Morales is not one of those residents.

The baseball coach for Rexburg’s high school baseball team had a rough upbringing in Ventura, Calif., and that lifestyle followed him to Idaho.

But after his second prison stint, Morales reached a slowdown in Rexburg. Here’s my profile of the Madison High School coach:

Luke Mecham approached Art Morales four years ago with a job offer. Madison High School’s then-varsity baseball coach wanted Morales to join his staff as an assistant.

Mecham was surprised to hear Morales say, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?” Mecham asked.

“I just have to check on some things,” Morales responded.

“Is it work?” Mecham said.

“No, my work supports me,” Morales said.

Mecham walked away for a second, then returned.

“Is it your record?” Mecham said.

“Yeah,” Morales said.

Morales had lived in Idaho for 15 years at that point. He had been to prison twice, which he figured would complicate his chances of becoming a Madison coach, but Mecham reassured him. The district superintendent had already signed off.

“I was like, ‘Then I’ll take the job,’ ” Morales said with a laugh.

Morales, 38, replaced Mecham as the head coach last summer and has helped the Bobcats reach the 5A state tournament, which starts Thursday. The tattoos that coat Morales’ arms hint at his turbulent past, but they also obscure his transformation into a cherished baseball coach.

“He’s doing a 180-degree turnaround,” Morales’ father, Art Sr., said.

Morales moved to Idaho in 1997 at the age of 19. He served about three years total in prison due to marijuana possession. His most recent prison term ended in 2006.

“I wasn’t living the right lifestyle,” Morales said. “(When you’re) not living the right lifestyle, problems find you or you find problems.”

Those problems stemmed from a rough childhood in Ventura, Calif. Baseball was Morales’ greatest passion, but drugs, alcohol and gangs pervaded his life.

Morales, a catcher, made Ventura High School’s varsity baseball team as a freshman, but he was booted from the team as a junior after he beat up a man who heckled one of his teammates.

Morales ended up at Santa Barbara High School as a senior and graduated. He even planned to play baseball at Cerritos Junior College. But one life-threatening incident altered his path.

One night in 1997, members from a rival gang jumped Morales and a fellow gang member. Morales ran away, but a lone rival followed him. Morales fought without realizing the man had a knife. He stabbed Morales in the back and the neck.

Morales’ neck was gushing blood, which he subdued by tying a shirt around the wound. He ran to a nearby friend’s house and was rushed to the hospital.

Morales’ parents were living in Pocatello at the time. When they heard the news, they immediately drove to Ventura. They brought their son back to Idaho after he recovered.

It took two prison terms for Morales to turn his life around. He abandoned drugs and alcohol. He started a family. He moved to Rexburg seven years ago and became a member of the LDS church last summer.

It took time, however, for Morales to adjust to Rexburg.

“I wanted to slow down in life, and we hit Jake brakes,” Morales said.

The city’s culture felt foreign to Morales, and he looked out of place to many of the residents.

During his first year in Rexburg, parents took their children out of his baseball academy because they were uncomfortable with his appearance. Other parents refused to let their children hang out with his four children.

“At least once a month, we wanted to move,” Morales said.

Life drastically improved after that first year. In fact, parents began to ask him to accept their children into his baseball academy.

Despite an inconsistent regular season, Madison won the 5A District 5-6 title and reached their first state tournament in two years. The Bobcats play Lewiston at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Morales’ tattoos used to stand out for negative reasons. Now, they symbolize how much he’s changed.

“We just changed playgrounds,” Morales said. “We surrounded ourselves with really good people, and in return really good things have been happening.”