Every school has their sports legends, whether it’s coaches, players, or both. At Alisal, coaching legends are honored on the wall of the gym.
In the history of Alisal, there have only been 4 coaches who have had the honor of being named coaching legends – Gary Mortensen, Terry Espinoza, Cork Haddan, and Jim Rear. They all coached for multiple decades and had success in their sport.
Mortensen started off coaching baseball back in the 90s and later became the football coach. Closer to the 2000’s he became the athletic director. Throughout his coaching career, Mortensen was able to win a couple of league titles in baseball. His team was also the first team in Alisal’s history to qualify for the playoffs. Espinoza coached wrestling and softball. He stopped coaching in the 90’s. Won a league title in softball. Was successful in wrestling. Haddan was the first varsity coach for boys basketball in Alisal’s history. He coached the 1970s and won many league titles, but most importantly, a CCS title. He took some time off after his wife died, but came back to coach JV because Coach Rear asked him to, and was successful in that role as well. Rear took over when Coach Haddan took time off from Varsity Boys Basketball, and Rear was the athletic director for two years. Coach Rear had success for 10 years. He also left Alisal to go coach at Alvarez.
One thing that all the coaches had in common was their longevity. All the coaches taught and coached at Alisal for over 20 years each.
After Jose Gil became athletic director, the idea of giving these coaches some praise came to mind. “Those 4 coaches were pillars of our programs here, and we said okay we can’t honor anybody until we honor the ones that deserve it from the past,” said Gil.
To be fair and have a good system, Gil created a committee. A couple teachers, former coaches, and he were in charge of choosing the first coaching legends. One of the requirements the committee had was how much success the coach had in their sport(s). They asked each other, How many league titles did they win? How many times did they qualify for CCS/state?
Another requirement was the time the coach coached at Alisal. The candidate to be considered a legend had to have been a coach for at least 10 years. A coach would not be a legend if they come in and inherit a very good team that allows them to win many championships, then leave when it gets hard.
Lastly, the main requirement was the effect the coach had on the kids. Coaching goes farther than being inspirational on the court. The committee looked for someone who pushed their kids on and off the court. “
Since the initial group, no other coaches have been honored. Many names have been floated. Boys’ Varsity Soccer coach Mark Cisneros, Cross Country/Track coach Steven Muñoz, Boys’ Golf coach Sunil Patel, Boys’ Basketball coach Jose Gil, former Varsity Football coach Sunil Smith, and former Varsity Girls’ Basketball coach Mick Battaglini. Although some of these coaches are still active coaches, their success, longevity, and impact should not be overlooked.
Cisneros has coached the boys’ soccer team for 19 years and has been the varsity coach for 17 years. He has been able to win 10 league championships, with some of them being back-to-back. He has gone to the CCS playoff 16 years out of the 17 years of coaching and won CCS D1 twice. He has also gone to state 4 times and won it once. Outside of the field, he pushes his athletes to maintain a 2.5 GPA in order to make the team and gives them lots of community service opportunities. He brings scouts to their games which has gotten many players college opportunities and professional tryouts.
Muñoz has coached two sports for 17 years with lots of success. In Cross Country, he has won 5 boys league titles and 1 girls league title, which happened this year. The boys have also made it to CCS for all 17 years, and the girls have made it to CCS in the last 15 years. He has had multiple runners make it to state while he coached them. In Track and Field he has won 3 league titles consecutively helping Alisal reach the highest division this
Gil has coached for 29 years, 26 of them being varsity, in which he was able to win 5 league titles and make it to CCS 24 times. In those 24 seasons of CCS playoffs, he has made it to the semi-finals twice. Outside of the court he has inspired people through his basketball academy, GBA. In his basketball academy he has given his athletes the opportunity to see the world as they hold community events in other countries and here in east Salinas.
Patel has coached for 23 years and is the longest serving coach for golf in Monterey county. For all 23 years he has been coaching varsity boys golf and has coached 3 years of varsity girls golf. He has won 2 league championships and is the first ever coach to win a league championship in boy’s golf history. Outside of the sport he helped students go off to college and receive scholarships for their golf abilities. For instance, one of his athletes got a full ride to Oregon University to play golf. Many other athletes have gotten scholarships through golf.
Smith was the varsity football coach for 10 years and created the pathway to success after so many dormant seasons where Alisal went without a win. Smith was able to take the football team to their first ever league championship and CCS playoff appearance. In his 10 years, he had 4 CCS playoff appearances with the first ever home CCS playoff game, broke many school records like the most points scored in a game (63), and had many athletes play college football.
Outside of the field, he has pushed so many athletes academically and helped them get to college. Many of the lesson he taught his athletes impacted their lives, “I have former players who are now lawyers, police officers, firemen, teachers and served in the military who have often reached out to me about how the lessons they learned through football helped them achieve their goals and excel in their respective fields,” Smith said.
Battaglini coached 22 years of girls’ varsity basketball and changed the entire program. The year before he took over the program was coming off a one win season, and they had only been to the playoffs one time. Under Battaglini, the program won 2 league championships, with one of them being undefeated. He made the playoffs many times throughout the 22 years. He got the program to a high level to where winning became the expectation.
In order for new coaches to be recognized, Gil said a committee has to be formed for them to go up on the wall. In the upcoming school year Gil is looking to bring this back with a new committee. “I think we need to bring some of the legends… an admin from our school, a veteran teacher or two, and some kids too,” Gil said.
Once he gets a new committee up and running, Gil is confident some new additions will definitely be added.
