After 10 years, varsity football coach Cesar Chaidez stepped down. Chaidez led the team to the CCS finals against Palma this year, so his replacement has a hard act to follow.
Fortunately, the school didn’t need to look far to find the new coach, Francisco Estrada. Estrada knows about both the school and expectations of the program, as he was head coach of the JV team the last 3 years. Lets not doubt Estrada, he has plenty of experience both coaching and playing football.
“I played football here, I was part of the 2003 first ever championship and playoff team that Alisal had,” Estrada said. “I played quarterback all four years.”
After graduating high school, he coached with Sunil Smith for three years, and this will be his 15th year coaching football, but his first as head Varsity coach.
Estrada currently owns his own business in remodeling homes, but wants to shift more responsibility in his company to one of his partners in order to dedicate more time to coaching,
He is also hoping to get his BA in Political Science at CSUMB in the next year or so to become a teacher here at Alisal and officially be on campus 24/7.
This upcoming season Estrada is determined to compete and win a league title, while also trying to get to the CCS Final again.
To achieve this, upcoming players aim to be more competitive. They will be focusing on the weight room, focus on their speed workouts in the off season, and be sure to be more dynamic during their season. Not only that, he is also aiming and pushing students to focus on athletes GPA, and graduate students to go play four year football at the next level.
“Making sure we have a more balanced and dynamic offense while using strategies such as getting our athletes the football in space early and allowing our players to showcase their athleticism,” Estrda said .
To make sure he accomplishes this, Estrada is happy to say that they are getting a lot of support, and is bringing in – Alexis Ramos, Josh Eliege Jr, Ricardo Estrada, Ricardo Ramos, Isaac Dueñas, Brian Meltran, Joel Duarte, and Dario Mendez – many of whom are alumni.
Coach Sunil Smith will also be part of the coaching staff, as an Assistant Head Coach for the upcoming season. “I’m more or less there to coach the coaches and provide guidance and support with things,” Smith said. “I’m so excited for Francisco. He and his family have always had a deep love for Alisal and I knew how much he really wanted to take this program over. He is here for the long haul and already has them off to a great start. He’s passionate and humble but more importantly he loves the kids and has their best interests at heart. He already has a great connection with the community which is very important as well.
Estrada is ready and excited to see how his first year as head varsity coach goes. He hopes to accomplish great and exciting new things. “Building off what coach Chaidez did last year, which was his historical season to get to the CCS final.” Estrada said. “We are hoping to not only get to the CCS final, but also win, which has never been done.”
