New assistant coach Max Medrano
at La Costa Canyon 7-on-7 tourney
June 24--trying to catch some shade
between games on a warm day.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
"Have you seen the athleticism of the sophomores? I want to stay around for a while to see them develop," said an intense, enthusiastic Max Medrano, new assistant coach working with defensive backs on the La Jolla High football team.
He highlighted the names of sophomores Finn Rice--"he's a football player"--Jack Wiese--same--Matthew Hammel--"I see him as a Division 1 pitcher in baseball" besides his potential in football--and Matthew Kelly, all who are showing the ability to make plays in varsity workouts this summer despite having just completed their freshman years.
Medrano, whose goal eventually is to be a defensive coordinator, said, "I take my football pretty seriously. I played at Cathedral Catholic." He played under long-time Don head coach Sean Doyle, and star running back Tyler Gaffney, who later played at Stanford and is now a Jacksonville Jaguar in the NFL, was a teammate.
"Starting week of official workouts (Aug. 1-4) was good, because the guys weren't too physical in their first week in pads," said Medrano, grabbing some healthy food at Sprouts on Sunday evening, Aug. 6. His mother, Jane Medrano, is an English/Language Arts teacher at La Jolla High, and is the academic tutor--and rabid fan--for the Viking football program.
The younger Medrano will coach on both the varsity and junior varsity teams. This is his first year of coaching.
"We're bringing a whole (new) culture of football to guys who have never played football," he said, eyes focused, thoughts keenly tuned to the student athletes he has been working with through the spring and summer, ever since new head coach Tyler Roach tapped him for an assistant coaching position. "I like to see that."
Particularly high on some of the younger athletes, especially ones who will lead the junior varsity football team this fall--speaking of the super sophs--"Mad Max" said, "I see it being like the seniors who just graduated. The sophomores who are coming up are athletic" and are going to end up blossoming as they move into their upperclassman years. "They're athletic in football, lacrosse, baseball" and other sports.
"It's a good program," the former Don said of the Viking athletic program overall. "The softball team, the soccer teams, lacrosse. They're all doing well."
"The athletic facilities we have (newly finished last year) are like the ones we had at Cathedral," he said, fire in his eyes. They're excellent, in other words.
Medrano is also high on Carsten Fehlan, the junior quarterback. "It's a good situation for him this year," he asserted. "He can watch and see what Trevor Scully (a senior quarterback) is doing. He can learn from that."
"What Carsten needs to do is get more mobile. He's a volleyball player, so he is used to posting himself in one position." Medrano expressed confidence that Fehlan, a star who led the junior varsity last year, will develop and make the adjustments necessary to be a successful quarterback on the varsity level.
The coach also commented on Kenny Hayden, the lefty senior quarterback who has been rehabbing a knee and did not play in 7-on-7 competitions against other teams during the summer. "You can see he's big. He's physical." It remains to be seen how Scully and Hayden will be employed by Roach, as Scully has the advantage of a junior season starting at Mission Bay, "playing with the best athletes" with the Buccaneers (Medrano's comment), before transferring back to La Jolla High this summer. Hayden saw limited action at quarterback as a junior, with senior Cole Dimich calling signals for the varsity under former head coach Matt Morrison.
In the Vikings' last 7-on-7 in July against El Capitan, West Hills, and Christian, Scully took all the snaps at quarterback. Prior to that, Scully had shared duties with Fehlan, who in the previous four-team round-robin was inserted about halfway through, before Roach brought Scully back out.
"I want to move the guys ahead to college on their football and academics," Medrano said, reflecting the emphasis on keeping their studies up that his mother helps bring to the program through her ardent and attentive work in tutoring the football players on their homework assignments.
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