Haybalers football coach Chris Cameron and his staff have
consistently put out a quality football program year after year,
molding the talent given them into the finest of craftsmanship.
This year is no different. The Balers (6-1-1) will be heading to
Salinas tonight for a showdown for the Tri-County Athletic League
title.
Cameron, who has been the head Baler coach for 10 years, brings
his hard-nosed no-nonsense attitude to the team.
”
He’s intense and that is what you need from a coach,
”
said senior running back Nick Bailey.
”
But at the same time, he is your friend. He is the best coach I
have had.
”
Haybalers football coach Chris Cameron and his staff have consistently put out a quality football program year after year, molding the talent given them into the finest of craftsmanship.
This year is no different. The Balers (6-1-1) will be heading to Salinas tonight for a showdown for the Tri-County Athletic League title.
Cameron, who has been the head Baler coach for 10 years, brings his hard-nosed no-nonsense attitude to the team.
“He’s intense and that is what you need from a coach,” said senior running back Nick Bailey. “But at the same time, he is your friend. He is the best coach I have had.”
“They are a very well coached team,” said Salinas coach Mark Ironside, echoing the thoughts of the coaches around the league. “Coach Cameron always get his team ready to play.”
Cameron is easily recognized at practice. Although he is shorter than most of his players, his over-sized straw hat that hides his head has become a trademark of Hollister football.
Cameron can often be seen with his young kids before practice while he rubs on the last blotch of sun screen and tightens his hat straps for a long hot day under the sun.
But the life cycle on Cameron’s hats is only about two years, and he has had to make many trips to the hat shop in his career.
“I buy them in bulk,” Cameron said. “They are hard to find. I have a couple in my closet right now.”
Coming into this season, Cameron demanded that returning JV and varsity athletes attend 90 percent of the workouts. If they couldn’t do that, he didn’t want them trying out. But the early morning practices and suicide sprints are finally paying off.
“The philosophy is always the same year round as far as hard work, commitment and effort and always striving to be better,” Cameron said.
Cameron attended Leland High School. Collegiately, he started off at Cabrillo College and graduated from San Jose State.
The 40-year-old coach began his career as a mentor 20 years ago.
He got his first taste of coaching at Oak Grove High School with the freshmen/sophomore team. Before coaching at Hollister, he was the head coach at Andrew Hill for two years.
Cameron was living in Hollister while coaching at Andrew Hill, when former Baler coach Bruce Corbett accepted a job at Merced High School.
“The program had made some strides before I got here,” Cameron said. “I was taking over a 2-8 team though.”
When Cameron arrived, he asked coach Rick Dukes if he wanted to switch from offensive to defensive coordinator.
“Every year, as a staff, we seem to get better,” Cameron said. “We get the most out of our players year in and year out. There might have been two years we didn’t. At times we are overachieving, beating people we have no business beating.”
Dukes and coach Tod Thatcher have been there for the whole tenure while Cameron has been coach. Thatcher started coaching with Cameron when they were at Andrew Hill together.
“I am surrounded by real quality guys,” Cameron said. “Our kids listen to what we say and are coachable. We get a good commitment. We have great community support. There are a lot of things that have made this a really fun experience. It’s been a whole lot of work, but there has been a good support network.”
