Latest / Desert Valley Blitz / EP33-How Coach P Built A Winning Football Culture in Desert Hot Springs

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EP33-How Coach P Built A Winning Football Culture in Desert Hot Springs · Desert Valley Blitz

• 0:24
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome back, everybody, to Desert Valley Blitz, Coach's Corner Edition.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_06: And today we got a real special guest, Coach Josh, because today we have the all-time leader in wins at Desert Hot Springs High School, Coach Roy Provost, Coach P in the house.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you for coming in.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for coming.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate it.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we we like to start off this question with all the coaches.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: So, like, how did you get into like obviously head coaching, but just coaching in general?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: Where does it start for you?
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh when my kids were little.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, when uh my older son was in kindergarten, um, you know, it was just like, all right, let's get him into football.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's what he wanted to do.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I never forced him to do any kind of sport in specific.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: He wanted to do football.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we got out there and they needed coaches.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I threw my name out there.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be out here anyways.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we need coaches, you know.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um and my very first coaching experience, the head coach then, and says, Coach, you know what, you be the head coach, and I'm just gonna be your assistant.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Okay, well, let's just do this together.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we'll do it as a team.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: We just want to get these young men, these little kids, yeah, you know, loving football.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh stay competitive, but you want to introduce the sport to them.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we just grew.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: I coached a lot of youth football with my boys.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my older son went to be a freshman at Rancho.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I stayed back with my youngest son, he was still in eighth grade, so I figured let's finish this out and interviewed at Rancho Mirage after that with Coach Matthews in 2016 and uh was there two years, went to Desert Hot Springs as a defensive coordinator, there for two years, COVID hit.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: I took a little time off.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my wife told me, I'm why don't you get back into coaching?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're really driving me crazy now.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Get you out of the house a little bit.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so my oldest son, he said, Dad, let's go to you know, DHS.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: They were playing, I think, Coachella Valley at the time.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Went out there and really got the bug again, you know.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I had a few interviews, interview with Indio.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Coach Zero got that job.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh had some other opportunities that were out of the out of the valley, and my wife had just started her her bachelor's, so I figured let's just see what's out here.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: If anything, you know, Zero said he had a spot for me out there, we'll go out there.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh wound up getting a job, interview, you know, went in and interviewed, got the job at DHS, and I always feel it was meant for me to be there.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it it was kind of where it started as far as my coordinator stuff, you know, and and taking that next step up as a as an assistant coach.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And um in 2023 it was our first season my first season as the head coach.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: I've coached there before.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh it's it can be tough to coach up there.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um you are the right guy for that job.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: What what do you think like um that you bring to the table really inspires those guys to come together and and and find success on that football field?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um love.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, uh it's when you when you put yourself out there and how do I expect my guys to buy into my program if they can't buy into me as a person?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm I'm never uh I'm never gonna go behind their backs and say stuff, I'll say it right to their face.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh never wanna be discouraging to them, you always want to build them up.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh once they know that you that they they can believe in you and you believe in them, it's it's fun.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they uh they will run through a wall for you, that old that old saying, right?
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so in year one, we had 18 seniors and probably about 15 juniors and then all underclassmen after that.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And those seniors, man, they really they really set the tone for our program.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we came in, I laid out the standards.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we're doing.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're gonna outwork everyone.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is not just a saying or a motto, this is a credo we have to live by.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna get in that weight room, we're gonna run, we're gonna get in shape, we're gonna be ready for more than four quarters of football.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that year, we had to be ready for more four more than four because we had some really tight games coming up.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, our first round, we first time ever hosting a home playoff game, won that game by a two-point conversion.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: It was either tie it up by one or you know, go to overtime.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: What'd you call?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I call it a uh read option out of a split back.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we had basically it was a triple option that we were running, and quarterback pulled it and went right in.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it was it was an amazing feeling that you know, just the energy in the stadium, everybody going crazy, first playoff win ever.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we went on to uh Baldwin Park, and that was a dog fight, absolute dog fight that went double overtime.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they scored in that second overtime and we scored, and I told the guys, it's like, look, y'all trust me, because we can do this again.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go for two and let's get out of here.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: So my fullback, the guy we had in at fullback when we subbed that package in, and he tells me, he says, Coach, trust me, because what we scored the touchdown on, we just ran the same play again.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me, I'll get us in there.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: And our running back followed him and went in.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: We won the game.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_06: This is year one, correct?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: That was year one, yeah, in 23.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Then we went on the semifinals that year.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And uh our first year quarterback senior, Messiah Smith, who who had an amazing season.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we had Christian Davis at at that running back then too, and that's a heck of an athlete.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: I saw him run a couple of times.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's he's something special.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, we had a lot of new guys at O-line, but they were big and they can move.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And when they got to going, it was just it was nice to see.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And in that semifinal game, we uh Messiah had pulled on a read option, had about a 45-yard run, cut inside instead of that hash number sideline that we want him to.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Cut inside and receiver was making a block, but he ran right into the tackle, broke his thumb.
• 6:48
  unknown: Man.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Broke his thumb, and then it got away from us there.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: We lost that game.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they went on to win the championship.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: That was uh St.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Monica.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: They were beatable though, he felt if he would have kept healthy.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: We were because it was seven to seven when that happened, and we were driving the score and we were feeling good about everything.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh our game plan, all of our scout, we were feeling good about it all.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: They had a heck of a freshman quarterback too who could sling it.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes it's nice just to go out of bounds.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Just take what you can get and get out of bounds.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, Messiah throughout the whole season, I think he scored 10 rushing touchdowns.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he was lining up the scoreboard there, yeah.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and he he was just confident in himself.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: He he knew that he could get it done, and he could have, he just stayed outside, followed his blocks, you know.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, uh I love it because I still have guys from that class come back, come out, and show love.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, you know, they'll come out and run around condition with us and do all that stuff.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: They stay in touch.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's a sign of a good program when the older guys come back and um especially come and watch the games, stand on the sideline.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_03: I I love that.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_06: So yeah, it's great.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_06: First year though.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_06: So you got all the way to the semifinals.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, so traditionally, before you got there, and even LD when he was there, Desert Hot Springs before you guys was kind of known as the doormat of the valley, you know.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_06: Like it was not a not a it was not a it was an up and down program.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_06: Some years they'd have real good.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, LD had some good years, and then they would come down and go back up.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_06: So your four years though have been I've I I believe the most consistent time in Desert Hot Springs history.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_06: So you guys, I mean, and like you said, you guys are just you're fighters, man.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_06: You're never out of a game.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_06: You guys have been known to come back.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_06: Like you guys are the comeback kids.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_06: We all we said it last year, and I believe the year before that you were doing the same thing.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_06: So, what do you attribute the consistency to?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_06: Because you're you're you're kind of building the model of consistency out there.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh it's just staying on our path.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we set goals, and uh, you know, we might not meet the goals all the time, but as long as we're working hard to get to those goals uh and staying true to who we are, there's a ton of athletes in DHS.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: A ton of athletes.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's always been the case.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of them pass up and go to Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, you know, and what we're doing is trying to build a culture to keep those guys there.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's been working out for us.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um we still have those guys who will cross the interstate, but you know, it's open district, they're allowed to.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm not gonna fault them for that, you know.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: But the grass isn't always greener.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we have um it's a family there.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we really put out a lot of time in each other and we love each other.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so once those guys start hearing the good that we're doing inside our program, not just the wins and losses, just what we're doing inside our program, uh, they start to rethink about oh, maybe I should stay out DHS.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, we we got some transfers in this year who I think are gonna help us out.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we have we have Chief Pali Fe who's gonna be coming in from Hawaii.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow his little brother Champ was our offensive lineman of the year last year as a freshman.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have their their youngest brother TJ who came in this year.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we have Jalen Turner, who's our three-year starter at quarterback.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: He's developed tremendously at quarterback and he's a heck of a leader.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: Should have a big year this year.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: We have um you know, our running game is pretty solid.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: We have a couple backs back there that they're gonna show you know what it's all about.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Anthony Hodge, we call A3.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: He's he's our he's our go-to guy, he's a very shifty young man.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Dominic Amble, Dom, he's he's our backup guy, he's our slot receiver who line up at running back as well.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: A couple young guys who who are really chomping at the bit to get out there.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we're excited about it.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, our defense is uh locking in and and playing together, you know, communicating and just that continuity that you want as a defense.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it sounds like you started as a defensive coordinator and then you're calling plays on offense.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Where some are you an offensive type of coach or a defensive type of coach?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_03: I know you're head coach, but sometimes everyone kind of if they gotta pick, they gotta pick one or the other.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, I've been on both sides of the ball all through my coaching career.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've played on both sides of the ball.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm comfortable on both sides.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: I like offense better because you can control things a little more.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think as a head coach, it's more of that control, right?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: True offensive guys, you know, whereas defense is read and react.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get out there with high intensity.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And um and you can see that in my coaching style.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I was coaching defense, I was a very high motor guy and just let's get out there and punch him in the mouth, let's do this.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas on offense, I have to be more cerebral about it and you know, maybe thinking three steps ahead.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: We can get this, we're gonna go here.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: If not, we're gonna go here with it.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: Makes sense.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_03: So I I I you know I find that that question fascinating because um I like defense myself, but um I always coach wide receivers a lot.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like pigeonholed in one direction.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_06: But we are good as a coaches, we could do it all.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_06: If I had to do offense, I guess I could.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_06: I wouldn't want to.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: I like to see that.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: You you gotta be versatile, right?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's I've never played offensive line a day in my life.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Me either.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I had to learn the ins and outs of very important position there.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: The most important thing, yes.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: The most important O-line and D-line is where you know the trenches is where it starts.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Where you win.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, if you our first year, our D-line was that was our Achilles.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: We couldn't stop.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we had as a team, I think 1,100 tackles, which is crazy.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh our junior Jair Broach had 220.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think he was like third or fourth in a nation.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: What position did you play?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: He was linebacker.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: And his twin brother, who was a linebacker, had 160 or so.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: They were in on every play.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Just we could not get off the field.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Third and shorts, fourth and shorts.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: We just could not get off the field.
• 13:07
  unknown: Man.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, offense would score pretty quick, and then defense was back on the field.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Which, you know, you want that because you're up, but you don't want to be on the field so much.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've been on the other end of that where defense would make a play, get off, and then all of a sudden, oh man, we're back on the field because of a turnover.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you want to get away from that stuff.
• 13:29
  unknown: Yeah.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of technique down there in the trenches.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of stuff they gotta work on down there first step.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_06: And I mean, it's it's so specialized.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_06: Every position is comes like individually now.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_06: It's crazy.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_06: Like when I was coming up, like nobody taught me any pass rush moves.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_06: You just said be a bully and beat your guy.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_06: You know, now it's like they got inside move, they got bull rush, they got all these.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_06: Hand here, hand here.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it's just all.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's a lot that you see with the youth league these days.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of that's changing.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of those guys go to those clinics and and they get that knowledge where they could teach these young men when they get to high school, or these kids rather, when they get to high school and they become young men and they're they're already a uh a step ahead of the game.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're ready to go.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, as long as you know some techniques and some fundamentals, you're you're gonna be in a good spot.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that's it's just so special.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_06: It blows me away every time I see these personalized coaches these days.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, yeah.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_06: It's crazy.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: But hey, and you know, games evolved.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta also separate yourself from football sometimes.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like we want those multi-sports athletes, we want those guys who are in two and three sports.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you're just focused on football all year long, it it gets stagnant.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and mentally too.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_06: And we're more prone to injury, yeah, doing the same thing.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because now you're using other muscles when you get to do those sports, you know, and making different cuts and whatever it is.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, but if you can go multi-sport, you're gonna have a higher chance of staying healthy as long as you're in that weight room and taking care of your body.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
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• 15:51
  SPEAKER_06: I'm kind of looking back at your season last year, Coach, and you had some time to kind of reflect and watch all the film.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_06: What was your overall?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_06: You guys had a successful season, you got to this playoffs.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, you won the last, what, three out of four games.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_06: You almost beat Banning, you would have won four in a row going in the playoffs.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_06: That was a good team.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_06: You guys got hot at the right time when you wanted to.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_06: So, what was your overall assessment of last year, the 2025 season?
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we we did a lot of positive, a lot that we can build on as well.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, a lot of juniors and sophomores, and even some freshmen out there that was starting for us.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it we went through our struggles.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: We we won a schedule uh pretty tough uh preseason for us.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: That way we can we can be ready for that that league and getting into the playoffs.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because that was our third straight year in the playoffs.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, our second straight in our first round exit, which I don't want to make a habit.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get a little deeper.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um but hats off to those teams, you know, just a bunch of tough teams out there, and uh it doesn't really matter what division you're in, low or high, yeah.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: You're going against quality teams.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we for our playoff, we went out to um to Irvine and played Woodbridge, and they went on to win a championship.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think they won a board game.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_06: Right, they won the whole thing, right?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_06: They won the whole thing.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_06: So you went out, but and you played them tough.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_06: It was low-scoring tough defensively.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: We were tied 13-13 going in the fourth quarter, and uh, we had a couple turnovers that got away from us and they capitalized.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's all game.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's football, man.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: It works.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: That is, and you know, it emotionally it was a tough one for us because we knew we had more in the tank.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: But it's football.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody wins, somebody loses, and we had to go home.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, but always a winner and loser, man.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_06: You don't want to be that loser too often.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_06: Let's just work harder.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_06: But I mean, you did mention that you had a bunch of guys, young guys, playing last year, and we were kind of talking off the air.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_06: This year, coming up, 2026, uh, you got 30 seniors correct on the football team.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_06: 30 minutes.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_06: Amazing.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_06: It's crazy.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_06: So that's amazing.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_06: That's a testament to your program, keeping kids.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_06: So DHS, another another thing about DHS is kids wouldn't make it like from the freshman year all the way through, right?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_06: That was kind of like a chronic element of the program.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_06: 30 seniors, I mean, that you've kind of corrected that.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's awesome.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: We uh we do as much as we can to push GPA.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh 2.0 is how you get by, right?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: But let's get to that 3.0 spot.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's make that our average.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we don't have to worry about 2.0s then.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you just sometimes you have kids who are that 2.0 to 2.5 guy, and as long as they're maintaining it and working their their hardest and doing what they have to do, then that's that's what we expect.
• 18:39
  unknown: Yeah.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, just don't slack, don't get lazy.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we've had issues with grades falling off after football.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody and every every school does.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't join another sport, then there's nothing to kind of keep them accountable for that.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: They're still teenagers, you know.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: We we treat them like young men, but they are still teenagers, they're still immature in certain ways, and they have to learn that that that's important.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: GPA and attendance is important.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: We have to show up, we have to put in the work, and then everything else on the field is extra.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: We'll we'll handle that.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but it uh we really do stress the grades because and and respect as well, uh, because you you can't play football without it.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's yeah, it's important.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: So so you just set the goal, is there anything else you do?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is there like extra classroom time or yeah, we have uh we have a study table built in after school.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um you're not allowed to lift if you're if you're not eligible basically.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to lift, there you go.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so if we have guys who have AP classes and stuff like that who can't be in a six-period class, so we try and get the six-period lift out of the way, and then afterwards we'll have about a 45-minute study table or weight room.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so the guys will be able to get their food, eat, get ready, finish up on their work, or go lift and get ready for practice.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_06: I can see how that would work.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I mean, that's a great program.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, because they are student athletes, right?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_06: 100%.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_06: You're not just a football player, you gotta have the two-point or you ain't gonna touch the field.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so that's a testament.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_06: But 30, 30 seniors, so I mean, 2026 is looking shaping up to be a nice little, a nice little, you got a nice little crop coming back.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_06: Um, can you kind of speak to some of the guys we should be looking out for as desert football fans, and you know, some of your expectations for this year coming up?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, expectations are always high.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's not like championship or bust or anything like that.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Championship's the goal, obviously.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but the expectations are always gonna be high.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: Work hard, put in all the work you can, you know, just do right.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we have our starting senior quarterback, Jalen Turner, he'll be out.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he's just improved so much.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh never played quarterback until he got to high school.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we've developed him and he's really slinging it right now, and he's making making very, very smart decisions, and he's he's showing his leadership.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we have our O line is pretty stacked.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: We have all seniors pretty much.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, I hope.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so those young guys really get a break and they get to learn from those guys.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh D-line-wise, we have uh some good edge rushers right there.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um we have good a really good linebacking core.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Seniors mixed with some juniors with some so a sophomore or two in there.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: DBs, we have ultra-talented guys at DB.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we're just building that that chemistry and getting all these guys to work together.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Dominic Amble, he's an anchor on our team as well.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: He'll play anywhere.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: He's a utility player.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh try and keep him on offense as much as possible, you know, and uh use him there as needed, which is a lot.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you guys two two platoon it or no?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll we'll try.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not scared of we'll run ten personnel, eleven personnel, twenty, twenty-one personnel.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: We have a split back formation that we like to use with Dom and A3.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Run a good little triple read on that.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, opens up a lot.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: It opens up a lot whenever you can when you have when you're running read and you're leaving one guy open, you're gonna make him wrong.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: One way or another, he's gonna be wrong.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: We just gotta be right.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Put him in conflict.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: But are you guys able to play defense and offense?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: Do you guys have do you have guys that go?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: I try and keep them one way.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, that's what it sounded like.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_06: That's a new trend.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, especially the core of the guys.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, quarterbacks are not gonna play two ways.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: My O-line, they beg and beg and beg all the time to play D-line.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them want to play linebacker.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: You're starting O-line, man.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're not doing line.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know how hard that is.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Chief will play both ways.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he's still weighing his options for college to see D-line or O-line.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he's gonna make us better on both, anyways.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: So they gotta be pretty special to people.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I like that right.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: He actually asked me, and I said, Well, you're kind of the exception here.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, he has a future in football, and we want to make sure that we highlight what he's gonna do, you know, whatever film he needs.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: But also we want to make sure that it's best for the team.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and uh right now playing him on both sides is best for a team.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we have we have a good number of guys that can spell him when we need it.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: In moments.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so uh you know, champ, we're we're looking a lot more out of his little brother Champ.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: He's offensive lineman of the year last year, and uh is just a massive unit and who can move.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Nicest young man.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna be a sophomore this year.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, on out town, man.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: He's I think he's 6'3, 340 or something like that.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: He said you know, he's not that that sloppy, he's put together well and he can move.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: He'll right.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're just building his strength up.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he's still got a little baby fat on him, too.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: So get it.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: He's a hard worker.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um we have yeah, we just have a ton of guys that that really put in a lot of work that that know what this is it's a new year, you know.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Looking forward to this year.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because my first year we had I think it was like 30-something freshmen, some of those guys, you know, kind of weaning themselves out.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so out of those original freshmen, I think we have 25 left.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's a that's amazing.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great, that's a great percentage.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we're hoping to keep that trend, you know, with all these new freshmen coming in.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_03: That's a good trend to keep up there.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_06: It seems like you've done a good job of closing the borders before you said a lot of kids would go down the hill and go go across the way to a different school.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_06: I think you're doing a job, a good job of closing the borders and keeping your players.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_03: I think winning fixes that too.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: Cures a lot.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: It does.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of stuff that goes right when you start winning, kids like start having fun on the field and talking about it, good memories like you you brought up, and um they they're gonna want to stay, then they're gonna want their little brother to experience that.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, then the parents see it, so I can see why it's starting to turn around there.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, community's getting behind you, yeah, like even more than before.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um speaking of which I I heard those games are nice to go to.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: We gotta we gotta check out a live game.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_03: Food's nice, the atmosphere's nice.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Great environment out there.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Our community does a good job.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: They they come out and they support us.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, the school does a great job of putting everything out there.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: They have food truck, they have a little food truck alley out there.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, nice.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Real good food out there.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the best food.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: I have the best food out there.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_06: Game of the week, so we can go.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_06: Come on up.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_06: It's a good field out there.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_06: I wouldn't mind.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_06: Check out the golden eagles.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_06: Uh you spoke to it.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_06: You got a you got some high expectations coming into this year.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_06: You also move up a division this year.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_06: So that's another testament to your program.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_06: It's moving up to DVL.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_06: So you got a whole new crop of league opponents.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_06: Um, what's your kind of take on the new league?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_06: Are you excited?
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_06: Are you excited?
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: What are you kind of um I'm I'm excited that uh we have an opportunity to move up and you know, move up and down, I guess.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Depending uh one thing, scheduling-wise, it kind of affects us is you know, when we enter games, we enter two-year contracts with teams.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so if we if we move up, that's that's six teams in that league.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna have to cut our preseason.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if somebody moves down, they're gonna have to find some preseason.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is correct.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that logistics is kind of where I was always concerned with it.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I do like where they're going with it, you know, because not every school's in one league.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, not every school's sports are in one league.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you can have volleyball, basketball, football, soccer, all that could be different leagues, depending on what they do.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I do like that.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: But it's just the logistics.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_06: It's two years out scheduling and for football, it's a nightmare.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_06: Schedules are hard to put together as it is.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_06: There is.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, but you guys, I mean, so we're in with C V now, we're in with Yucca, right?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_06: And then uh who's the other one?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_06: Banning.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_06: So I mean, that's a man, that makes your league.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_06: A lot of good programs.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_06: Got, you know, a lot of points gonna be scored in that we've got to be.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: We've battled, we've battled Yucca Valley ever since uh I've yet to win.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: I've I haven't beat Yucca Valley yet.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, Coach Johnson's got a great program up there.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: They do it right up there.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: He does a good job right there.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: We only played C V once, and Coach Johnson over there, he's same thing, really good program.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: New coach.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and I'm I'm curious with with Banny's new head coach and see what they what they're gonna put together.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: They have the talent out there.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, they got a ton of talent.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh uh I just I don't really know the situation out there as far as their athletes who have stayed and the quarterback was nice.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: That quarterback was legit.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, if he's still there, that's a that's a that's gonna be a tough game with that guy because he's just he's a he's a do they have a new head coach coming in this year?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, new head coach at Batting.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: So they could be changing all kinds of stuff over there, it could be a different system.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's interesting.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_06: But Desert Hot Springs is on the rise, man.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_06: I think uh you guys are a good candidate to maybe move up this year if you have a spectacular year, right?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: With all those seniors.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I whenever I plan, I put the schedule out, our calendar.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: When I do our calendar, uh I always schedule all through November for playoffs.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's just something I've always done.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: We made it to that third week of the playoffs.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's the secret sauce right there.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm putting it on the kids' calendar going home.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's like my calendar.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, you gotta you gotta speak it into existence sometimes as well, you know.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: You put that in your will and and you just keep working for it, knowing that, hey, I want to play, I want to be practicing whenever Thanksgiving.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's that's a special thing to be able to get out there and practice when nobody else is practicing.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, we've done it a couple years, three years in a row, and uh we went deep our first year, and but just to be that ever knowing that everybody else is sitting at home, yeah, you're the game in town.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we're the we're the ones, you know.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's exciting.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but we hope to keep doing it.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're just gonna keep working hard.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you've shown to be consistent, so I wouldn't expect anything different.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and ultimately your goal is to get to the top division, right?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_06: As a competitor, right?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_06: You want to be in that top six, right?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, you guys should be the premier program in the valley.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_06: We got to be in the top league, right?
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_06: So I think you know you're gonna see that trend.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: We have a pretty loaded preseason schedule this year, too.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Who are you guys opening up against?
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: Talk wits, we're gonna go talk wits.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's a tough one.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: That is that's tough.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_06: You see, you'll know right away, right?
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: We'll know right away.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we have we have quite a few good ones.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: We have Rancho Mirage, which everybody's excited for on our end.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um coach Matthews.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: I have nothing but love and respect for that man.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Great coach.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I you know, he gave me a job whenever I was looking for one to get in high school, and uh, you know, the rest is history.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: Who'd you coach under him?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: I coached the uh DBs and running backs.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: We started as a freshman assistant.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, worked your way up.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Worked your way up, man.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_06: That's talent right there.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_06: Cream always rises to the top.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_06: That's what I say.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_06: So you open what you got Rancho on the schedule.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_06: Rancho will, I think, look like Rancho this year.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_06: I think last year was abnormality.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_06: So I think that's another, that's gonna be a good game to kind of for the algorithm.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, you know, we're all a slave to the algorithm these days.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_06: What's your opinion on this algorithm?
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_06: I know there's coaches that love it, there's coaches that hate it.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_06: This algorithm that sets our playoff brackets, and what's your kind of opinion on it?
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much that goes into it.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like it's just mind-boggling sometimes.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're trying to think of all this.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: I do like the um you know the seating after whenever it was after COVID when they started doing that with the division and all that stuff.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: I like that because you really never know what you're in for.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you get placed in a lower division and you just run through it, yes, you win the championship or whatever.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but it's always a feeling like we could have done better.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: We could have been up and you know, so I think now it's kind of they're putting you in the right spot.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um we've been D13 last three years, and uh, you know, a lot of our guys think, oh, we should be higher.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think we're right where we need to be uh until we prove otherwise.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you want to be higher, go prove it.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's I I can only coach.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's up to you to go out there and do it.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_06: I think you're gonna see more.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_06: It seems like we're playing a lot more Orange County teams in the playoffs now, right?
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_06: It's a lot of different matchups now.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that you know, traveling.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's so we went to uh Irvine.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: We that's a long bus ride.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's a long bus ride.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: So you know the district got us the charter buses and we were able to get out there in comfort, you know, because those are the regular school buses.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's a long bus.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yellow.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: We we appreciate them.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: You go local, local one though.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm 6'5 and my legs are tight in there.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so that's a that's an advantage to stay home in that situation instead of going out to Orange.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, in our first year, we had our first home playoff game, our first round.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: Then we went away away.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: If we would have won that semifinals, we would have had a championship at the at home.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: At DHS, that would have been awesome.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: That would have been something else.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_06: That would have been wow.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_06: Your first year, too.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_06: Wow, they would have put a statue outside where you have to win that game, coach.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_06: You would already have that statue.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_06: Uh um, so we kind of already talked about it.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_06: Some of your uh we've all kind of had help get into the positions we've gotten to in life.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_06: Who are some of your mentors that kind of guided you along the way that you'd like to kind of speak of?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so obviously, you know, outside of football would be my father.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he passed away after a month, a month after my son passed away.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he he was actually able to come out whenever my son passed away.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: He came out two games and uh he got to see that side of me, that football side of me.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: He's never really got to see that only youth league type stuff when we were in Louisiana.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, he he told me he was he's proud of me.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: I you know, he was able to come out and see that and see what we've accomplished as you know, wins, losses, yes, but uh just building a program and and having everybody come up and just he sees the love.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so he was always you know that guy for me that that mentored me at obviously you know right and wrong and all that stuff, but really just just uh push me to get my reach my goals, you know.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: And um my mom, my stepmom, my mother-in-law, and of course my wife, she's you know, those those are the ones that really keep me anchored and and all that.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um my older son, Michael, he coached with me.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh this will be the first year he's not coaching with me because he moved to Washington.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: But uh you know, he he always he always kept me grounded in certain ways.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, then I have as far as football, you know, guys like Coach Matthews, uh you know, guys like Coach Castillo, defensive coordinator at Rancho Mirage, uh Ahmad Spray, you know, Coach Spry.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: I just heard he got the O line coach at COD now.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, good, that's awesome.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I talked to Coach Stepto the other day, and he that's what he was telling me.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: So he's a good one for him.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud of him.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: He he actually got me into coaching wrestling.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Never my my youngest son, it was freshman year, and Coach Bry was like, come on out, coach.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: He's so funny.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's yeah, he's a good guy.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_06: Do you have a wrestling background as well?
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: Not at all.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_04: Not at all.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely, definitely.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: I uh I can coach.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, as long as I kind of know give me the material and I'll be able to do that.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: Give me the basics and I can teach it, right?
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and it's just you know, guys through the valley, you know, just the old coaches like Coach Blackburn and you know, you know, Coach Armstrong, all those guys that that you'd seen come to the valley.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I have a tremendous uh tremendous amount of respect for all the all the coaches out here in the valley.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're really they really do it for the right reasons.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh it's we create these bonds as coaches, but then when you get out there you want to be competitive and you want to win, right?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's like if we're gonna play Monopoly right now, I'm gonna win.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_06: That's the name of the game while we do it.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: But there's always love afterwards and even before.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, last year when Xavier came, they beat us up.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Doc, he's always a pleasure, you know, he's very respectful.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, whenever I heard he left Xavier, I was like, oh man.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then went to India, I was like, all right, well, he he's at least back on our schedule.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we might get a little more competitive time with him.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um but all those guys, man, I just you know, I I like what they've done, you know, Murph, Palm Springs.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: Great coach.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, try not to try not to like have their legacy just trash, you know.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's as coaches in the valley, let's keep building on their legacies and keep doing what they've shown that is possible.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: Is these desert athletes can can really do a lot.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they have led the way for us.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_03: And I've learned a term you know a lot from Armstrong.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I I I love that.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_06: So some good mentors to have, some legendary coaches on your list.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_06: Um kind of running up against time coach, but who if somebody wanted to be a head coach, maybe a young assistant, maybe a player, thinking they want to be the next coach P and you know, get into this profession, what advice would you give that person?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just football.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: Football is about 10% of it.
• 36:38
  unknown: All right.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the X's and O's part of it.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um it is if you want to be a head coach and you wanna you want to be able to to to continue building is you have to set the standards.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: You have to lay that foundation, you have to be able to continue to guide these young men on the right direction.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the uh the other side of it, the administration side of it, it's a lot.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's a lot to do, you know.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's keeping up with guys' grades, making sure that everything's good at as far as they are mentally uh you know, always being there for them.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always on the phone with my guys.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: One of my guys called me the yesterday and asked Dominic, called me and asked me if uh if he thought if I thought he could make it in the Amazon Forest.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: Just a random, random call out of nowhere.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: What'd you tell him?
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I told him, I said, I think you got the heart to do it.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then I asked him, wait, okay, wait, what kind of supplies you had?
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: Are you like naked and afraid type stuff?
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Yeah, coach, I'm I'm that.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, you're cooked, man.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna make it on the city.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sorry, I love you, but no, it ain't gonna happen.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: We have a bunch of characters.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Jalen is a character in his own.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: He he was our MVP, he was tracks MVP, he played basketball as well.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just dynamic player, an absolute goofball, but gets the job done.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: He's serious when he needs to be.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: And we we do.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: We joke around a lot out there.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but there's a time where it has to stop when we gotta get to business.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_06: Well, coach, I think uh secrets out on DHS.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_06: I don't think people are gonna be surprised anymore when they see you making runs at league titles and playoff, you know, deep playoff runs.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_06: I think you're you've done it, done it right, you know.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_06: You've done it from the ground up, and you know, I think you're gonna have continued success out there.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_06: It looks like 2026 is gonna be shaping up to be excited.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, pretty good year.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're looking forward to it.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it's gonna be a big year for us.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: We have, I guess, you know, senior heavy team.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: So they got a lot, they got a lot to accomplish this year.
• 38:46
  unknown: Yeah.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I we're not gonna be surprised.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_06: We're gonna be following you all year, coach.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, appreciate it.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_06: You're a rising star in our coaching community.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_06: I think uh proofs in the pudding.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_03: Leaving your mart.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, done a great job up there, and we're we got nothing but support for you.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_06: And we're gonna have to bring you back for a little uh preseason uh focus truly on a preseason program.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_06: So definitely we'll have to bring you back, and it's been a pleasure talking to you, coach.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's been a pleasure, and uh, you know, we appreciate everything y'all are doing, getting our young athletes out there and kind of getting a little exposure and you know, everything that's going on in the valley with you know, the I like how how Desert Excuse me, Desert Christian is is doing their thing with all their events and all the stuff they do out there.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's more exposure for these guys, and we appreciate it.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_03: It's all about the community.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the thing is like we can all learn together and then compete like hell on that field.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_06: Friday night we're trying to kill each other, but after that, hey, it's all love.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_06: I need you to compete against me.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_06: So you know it's all love, and and that's kind of what the show is all about.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_06: So bring out the best.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks for coming in.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks for having me.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_06: I appreciate it.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks, coach.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_06: Well, if you guys found some value in that, you guys know the routine.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_06: Like, subscribe, and follow.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_06: And we'll see you next time on Desert Valley Blitz.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_06: Peace.