LJ FB: Caudillo the boss of his area

By Ed Piper

"Caudillo" means "boss", like Richard Daley of Chicago or other leaders who hold local control over their fiefdom. It's not always a compliment.

"Oh, like Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall," quipped a wisecracker to Larry Caudillo, the Vikings' new special teams coordinator. He also helps with the linebackers.

Caudillo knows what his last name means. "My family is from Mexico. I don't know what part. My dad was born in Colton (greater L.A. area). He was raised in Point Loma. I went to Mount Miguel."

Caudillo, with a cool mustache and serious visage, is one of the many new coaches under Tyler Roach, who is in his first job as a head coach after serving under Jason Carter as Offensive Coordinator from 2013-2015, with a foray as Defensive Coordinator at Country Day last year.

Asked who some team leaders worthy of being interviewed were, he assented with the list already interviewed: Tino Mendez, Johnathan O'Neal, and others.

"It's still really early," he said when asked about an outlook on the squad. "I'm new to the program, so I'm still learning."

But Caudillo has a raft of experience in coaching football: He coached the last five years at Scripps Ranch. He coached at Cathedral Catholic for eight years prior to that. He has also coached at Hoover and El Cajon Valley.