The first game is scheduled, the field has been named, and now
the Anzar High football team has its coach. Luis Espinoza, who
previously coached the junior varsity team at San Benito High
School from 2004-08, was named head coach of the Anzar High
football team recently, and will lead the Hawks on to the gridiron
in September for their inaugural season.
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
The first game is scheduled, the field has been named, and now the Anzar High football team has its coach.
Luis Espinoza, who previously coached the junior varsity team at San Benito High School from 2004-08, was named head coach of the Anzar High football team recently, and will lead the Hawks on to the gridiron in September for their inaugural season.
Follow Free Lance Sports on Twitter.
“It’s a new program. That was the biggest thing,” Espinoza said of what attracted him to the position, not to mention a return to coaching football for the first time since 2008.
He stepped down following the season in order to finish completing his teaching credential as well as earn his masters.
Born and raised in Hollister and having previously coached the Baler boys’ volleyball team to the Tri-County Athletic League title in 2009, Espinoza has been teaching Spanish at the San Juan Bautista high school for the last two years now, while also coaching the Anzar High girls volleyball team as an assistant last fall.
But taking over the football program, and being the first coach in Anzar school history to do so, Espinoza has the opportunity to put his signature, or his stamp, he said, on the team.
“It’s what every football coach wants — to have their own program, starting from scratch,” he added.
Having learned the coaching game from Balers head coach Chris Cameron and defensive coordinator Tod Thatcher — two people who he said were imperative in him learning how to run a football team — Espinoza plans on operating the Hawks in a somewhat similar way to the Balers, although on a much smaller, 8-man football scale.
“They helped me a lot and without them, this wouldn’t be possible,” said Espinoza, who, while coaching the JV team at San Benito High, was able to help out the varsity program as well. “I’m gonna take that and bring it here.”
And in true high school football fashion, the first order of business will be early morning practices.
The summer schedule starts Monday at 6 a.m.
“Those are the kids who will be ready to go on Friday night,” Espinoza said. “If they can handle 6 a.m. practices, they can handle the entire regular season.”
Superintendent Willard McCabe said, among those who applied for the position, Espinoza’s prior experience at San Benito High and the fact that he was an in-house candidate made him very attractive for the head coaching job.
“He was involved with a really strong program and will really anchor our program as we move forward to the future,” said McCabe, who also noted the enthusiasm and dedication of the entire coaching staff.
Hired in April, Espinoza said he had been getting the word out to some of his students about the upcoming football season at Anzar. And even though the school will be playing in the Mission Trail Athletic League (previously called the West Bay Athletic League), which plays 8-man football, Espinoza said 22 athletes have already signed up for the fall sport.
The new head coach said he’s still learning the 8-man game — which, despite just three less players on the field, is said to be wildly different than normal football. But he won’t be going it alone, either.
He’s expected to bring in Steve Gaitan as the offensive coordinator, Jay Ehret as the defensive coordinator and Fred Rosales as the offensive line coach, all of whom coached under Cameron.
“At San Benito, it’s tradition. This is new,” Espinoza said. “I’m going to take it one step at a time and see how everything goes.
“Hopefully, the program will go off in the right direction.”
Schedule
Sept. 9 — v. Trinity Christian (dedication of Barragan Field, in memory of the late Raymond C. Barragan, will be done at halftime)
Sept. 23 — v. Anchorpoint Christian
Oct. 1 — at Cornerstone Christian
Oct. 7 — v. Priory
Oct. 15 — at Pinewood
Oct. 21 — v. Crystal Springs
Oct. 29 — at Alma Heights
