Transfers, social media and other issues that could ‘destroy’ prep football in Sacramento
On the surface, high school football has never been better, more robust and more appealing across the Sacramento landscape.
The crowds are larger, the rooting sections more spirited, the marching bands more in tune than they were in previous decades. The region has produced blue-chippers who played on scholarship at the biggest college programs in the land and became NFL first-round draft picks, including in recent years linemen Jonah Williams of Folsom, Kolton Miller of Roseville, Arik Armstead of Pleasant Grove in Elk Grove and linebackers Shaq Thompson of Grant and Laiatu Latu of Jesuit.
There are California state championships for teams to pursue, a wrinkle added in 2006. Local state champs include Folsom (five times since 2010, including 2023), Grant (2008, 2022), Granite Bay (2012), Del Oro (2015) and small-school wonder Woodland Christian (2023). But there are touch points of concern or fury for coaches who say there are too many transfers, kids bouncing from program to program when the going was already good at their original school.
Social media is also a concern. Area programs in recent years have been shutdown at midseason for social media posts with racial undertones. School administrators across the state vow to keep hammering down if such posts continue.
But for all of the successful programs with large roster numbers, advertising signage covering their sideline fences and overflow crowds, there are more struggling programs just trying to get through each weak. Can they survive a sport that relies on player numbers, dedicated coaches and campus and community support? Can football help ineligible players get their grades up?
‘It’s destroying the game’
Reggie Harris has coached football for 40 years across the country including a stint as Grant’s spirited defensive coordinator and the last four years as head man at powerhouse Inderkum of the Natomas Unified School District. He speaks his mind.
At the National Football Foundation coach’s breakfast at the Dante Club on Aug. 10, Harris took the podium before and after his peers and let loose without being specific, though suggesting transfers are a troubling trend.
“We have to be better as coaches, and not so much back-stabbing each other,” he said. “We have to have a better fraternity of coaches. We need to teach integrity and commitment (of players). We’re losing that. It’s all about ‘what can you give me?’ for players. If this is how high school sports is going to go, I’ll be glad to retire. It’s destroying the game.”
Harris also alluded to the NCAA’s name, image and likeness (NIL) rule.
“We’ve seen a lot of changes,” Harris said. “If NIL takes over like in college sports, it’ll ruin the game locally. It’ll be taken over by non-certified teachers.”
‘Don’t bag on each other’
Ron Barney is a retired teacher and coach who at 71 years old still wears many hats, his love of prep sports never ending. This includes serving as president of the Sacramento chapter National Football Foundation.
Barney urged coaches at the annual event to get along and to encourage former prep players to stay in the game by becoming referees as referee shortages tied to unruly fan and coach behavior continues to thin the ranks across the country.
“Don’t bag on each other,” Barney said. “This is the greatest sport of all. We’re making leaders. Coaches are heroes to the kids they coach. Don’t lose sight of that.”
Jim Gray has coached football for nearly 40 years, the college ranks on down, and he’s coached Bella Vista in Fair Oaks the past four seasons. He said that the game has never been stronger locally.
“I think this is one of the greatest high school football areas in the country, and I’ve been all over,” he said. “It starts with the coaches. Amazing coaches and programs. I’m proud to be a part of it. The game is in good shape.”
Folsom coach: ‘It’s exhausting’
Folsom coach Paul Doherty doesn’t deny that his Bee No. 1-ranked Bulldogs have become a magnet for parents to send their sons to, calling Folsom “a destination school” for a number of sports. The school in recent months gained transfers who were Bee All-Metro stars last season at Cosumnes Oaks, Inderkum and Oak Ridge.
But Doherty and his school administration insist that Bulldog coaches do not recruit kids away from other programs, nor do they stack them up in houses or hotels to deceive the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports in this state.
“Yes, we get transfers, but we also lose a lot of guys, too,” Doherty said. “We take football at Folsom seriously. It’s a big deal. Kids come our way. Football can be fun, but it’s exhausting. I do know that I will not get outworked by anyone.”
The road back
Schools for years have bounced back from lean football years to produce competitive teams, the key tied to roster numbers. Gray at Bella Vista turned his program from one with an area-record losing streak into a playoff group last season.
▪ San Juan of Citrus Heights has fielded one team with a .500 record in the last 25 years. The Spartans last won a league championship in 1947. The school has gone from larger-enrollment Division I status in the 1990s to its current small-school D-VI classification, reflective of a massive drop in enrollment.
First-year coach Otis Washington said he has 28 varsity players and 20 of them are academically eligible. Wins for his team will include getting everyone eligible and to not get blown out on a regular basis.
“I appreciate the challenge because football can help kids,” he said.
▪ At River Valley in Yuba City, the Falcons are eager to halt a 22-game losing streak and put back-to-back 0-10 seasons in the memory dumpster file.
The right coach is in place in Alex Gomes-Coelho. He worked wonders at once-struggling Hiram Johnson in the Sacramento City Unified School District. At River Valley, the coach has a player to admire in 6-foot-6, 245-pound senior quarterback Jackson McPeak, a 4.3 student.
Gomes-Coehlo speaks for every similarly struggling program when he said, “Our goal last year was to be competitive, and we were in four games. You can’t buy wins, but you’ll lose if you don’t buy in.”
▪ At Oakmont in Roseville, third-year coach Jake Messina is wiping away the grime of a winless 2023 campaign. He is impressed that his varsity roster of 40 has bought in, including 28 seniors. The team leader is two-way starter Beau Ogles.
“We’re getting better,” Messina said. “There was a point not long ago where I was close to getting out of coaching. Not now.”
▪ At Del Campo in Fair Oaks, tireless fourth-year coach Matt Costa has a program on the cusp of the playoffs. He returns a two-way grinder in QB/FS Angel Reyna and welcomes with all manner of his typical enthusiasm two well-known coaches: Ernie Cooper and Jeff Remington.
Cooper coached Granite Bay to league, section and state championship success at Granite Bay and will run the offense. Remington will coach the offensive line, something he did at the collegiate level, including at Sacramento State.
▪ At Destiny Christian Academy in Sacramento, the school formerly known as Capital Christian welcomes back coach Aaron Garcia and welcomes aboard new top assistant Antuan Simmons, an all-time area great defensive back from Valley High in the mid 1990s who excelled at USC. The team went 2-8 last season amid a crunch of injuries.
Fitting into the SFL
The Davis Blue Devils of Yolo County have been a prep power in sports across the board since the 1970s, but not always in football, where the fortunes have soared and plummeted. Davis and chief non-football rival Jesuit urged the Sac-Joaquin Section to move from the Delta League into the Sierra Foothill League in the spring via realignment. Davis will fare just fine in most sports, but what about football?
Davis has gone 1-8, 2-8 and 2-8 in recent years after fielding a 10-2 team under outgoing coach Steve Smyte in 2019. The SFL is a muscle-bound football lot that includes Bee-ranked Folsom, Rocklin, Oak Ridge, Granite Bay and Del Oro.
“It’s going to be a gauntlet for us,” Davis coach Nick Garrett said. “In some sports, we’ll do great. It’ll be a challenge in football. In April, our parents expressed concern: ‘How are we going to protect our kids? Should we even be in the SFL?’ We thought about an independent schedule, but the seniors said no. They want to play, so we’re looking forward to it.”