Coast Union looks to improve under new football coach

After the Coast Union football team struggled through the past three seasons with a 7-18 record, including a 5-3 mark in the Coast Valley League, new head coach Ron Garcia and offensive coordinator Charlie Casale are committed to building an improved team for school and the Cambria community.

Garcia indicated that Friday, Aug. 11, was the last day student athletes could come out for football, because, as he noted in an email interview, “I wanted to make sure that all players understood the importance of making a commitment from the beginning of the season.”

He may have been reflecting indirectly on the lack of commitment by some Coast football players in 2016, when too few athletes showed up for early workouts, and several arrived too late to be fully indoctrinated into the program.

The 2017 Coast Union team will have 18 players for the eight-man football schedule, a number Garcia believes is adequate. And he praised the team: “Both Coach Casale and myself are pleased with the quality of young men we have on the team. They are very coachable and have great attitudes.”

On the sun-splashed practice field Thursday afternoon, Aug. 10, an enthusiastic group of players — dressed out in full gear, with helmets and pads —responded instantly to Garcia’s quick whistle blasts. The immediate and impressive player response each sharp blast is to clap hands three times in unison.

Clearly, the coach’s strategy is to teach these athletes how to stay in the moment, on the same precise page, which will be a continuing theme while the game-time offensive and defensive strategies are learned and put in place.

“We are very fortunate to get to work with a lot of nice kids,” Garcia explained. “We are going to spend a lot of time teaching the linemen proper technique (especially pulling), as well as perfecting our blocking schemes.”

While Casale worked with the offensive unit on one section of the practice field behind the school, Garcia used his strong voice and mentoring skills to teach linemen the proper blocking techniques.

Garcia announced that the Broncos have added a game to their schedule: Coast will play Desert High in the Mojave Desert on Oct. 13, bringing its total to nine games. Five of those games (beginning Sept. 1) are at home, and four are on the road.

The head coach said those five home games will be “an advantage if we can fill the stands as we have in the past.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 9:14 AM with the headline "Coast Union looks to improve under new football coach."