It’s the day before the start of the 2013 football season, and Chris Cameron has a certain glean on his face as he hands out jerseys to his players in the musky smelling San Benito High football locker room.
Now in his 20th year as the Haybalers’ coach, the 50-year-old Cameron approaches every task with joy, no matter how menial the task is.
“I love the game, but more importantly, I love seeing kids grow up,” Cameron said. “I’d like to think as coaches we could have a positive influence on kids.”
Haybalers fullback Justice Felice — he rushed for a game-high 106 yards on 15 carries in last week’s 31-14 win over Pioneer — paid Cameron and the rest of the San Benito coaching staff the ultimate compliment after the Balers’ season-opening victory.
“We learn so much from them, and it really makes a difference,” Felice said. “They had a huge impact on us at halftime (during the Pioneer game). We weren’t playing that well in the first half, but coach didn’t have to yell or scream much. He and the rest of the coaches just showed us proper technique and things we needed to work on.”
Something clicked, because the Balers ran roughshod over the Mustangs in the final two quarters, outscoring them 27-0 to win going away. The good coaches make the proper in-game adjustments; the great ones teach it in a way that the players absorb and translate onto the field.
It’s no coincidence Cameron has developed an ability to motivate teenagers to continually improve and play at a higher level, because he views the football field as the ultimate classroom experience.
“When it’s fourth and goal and you need one yard to determine your destiny, that’s when true character comes out,” Cameron said. “You can either go in the tank or rise up to be a leader, and that stuff doesn’t happen within the walls of an English class or a typical classroom environment. It happens between the white lines. We practice Monday through Thursday, and Friday is our test.”
Cameron, who is an on-campus P.E. teacher, starts building a rapport with his returning players and any newcomers in January, in one of his classes. At the end of April, there’s a short spring football session that allows Cameron to get his players on the field twice a week. That spring session bleeds into the seven-week summer session — “Everyone in town knows we’re out there on the field at 6 a.m.,” Cameron said — during which time the players are getting bigger, stronger, faster and mentally tougher.
“You want guys to invest a lot of time in this, because then it’ll be harder to quit when things get tough,” Cameron said. “It’s hard work and a lot of sweat, and it’s proven to be a pretty good formula.”
Of that, there is no doubt. Under Cameron, the Balers have won three Central Coast Section championships, to go along with five runner-up finishes. Cameron knew he wanted to be a coach when he was a senior at Leland High. A heady player, Cameron could see plays transpire before they developed.
“I knew during double days (the summer before my senior year) what I was supposed to do and what everyone else was supposed to do,” Cameron said. “I absorbed everything.”
Including the way to run a program. Cameron spent nine years coaching as an assistant under former legendary Oak Grove-San Jose coach Ed Buller, and two as the head coach at Andrew Hill-San Jose before taking the position at San Benito. Cameron and Balers athletic director and defensive coordinator Tod Thatcher coached together at Oak Grove, and they already had a blueprint for success.
“When we came here, we wanted to establish an Oak Grove-type program,” Cameron said. “That meant getting the kids to buy into a certain work ethic and commitment. We don’t always have the biggest team, but our kids play really hard. How do I measure success? It’s getting better every week.”
Which is exactly what the Balers did last year en route to winning the CCS Division I title over Milpitas.
“Each year you need to suck more life out of your guys, in terms of playing harder,” Cameron said. “Last year’s team had a great understanding of that. They competed and understood what the coaches wanted them to do.”
Cameron loves his players, especially when they exceed their potential. And he doesn’t like to take credit for anything — he even called the Freelance and politely asked to not have a story focused on him — noting a coach should never get too much credit for a team’s success.
“It’s all about the players,” he said.
Cameron was particularly proud of his team’s performance against Pioneer, which looked like the superior squad in the first half. However, the Balers simply willed themselves to victory in the final two quarters, displaying a physicality and mental toughness that has become synonymous with San Benito football.
“We were running at will in the second half,” Cameron said. “After they prepared in practice all week, all of our guys won their battles.”
And passed the first of many tests.
NOTES: San Benito has a Sept. 13 showdown at Palo Alto and its heralded quarterback, Keller Chryst, who is one of the top-rated players at his position in the nation. Game time is 7:30 p.m. This will be the Vikings’ season opener.
In the Haybalers’ 31-14 win over Pioneer last week, quarterback David Stanton rushed for 50 yards and threw for 119 more in the comeback victory. San Benito trailed 14-4 at halftime before literally running all over the Mustangs in the second half. Out of the 28 plays the Balers ran, 26 were runs.
