Football: La Cañada's Dan Yoder ready for challenge

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La Cañada High School's Dan Yoder was having fun coaching a group of players without having to deal with the spotlight. But that all changed when Rich Wheeler, the school's longest-serving coach, resigned after 12 years as the Spartans football coach. Enter Yoder. He was the junior varsity coach the last four years. He's also been a history teacher at La Cañada the last five years. "I really didn't expect to see it happen this fast," Yoder said. "It's always something I thought about but I really enjoyed my (junior varsity) experience, both as the head coach who got to call the shots and also that you're the JV guy; it's a little less of scrutiny coming down on you." As head coach Yoder understands he'll be the head figure of the football program. The task can be daunting but it's a challenge he'll take head on. "It's going to be a bigger challenge," he said. "You're in the spotlight now and people will criticize your every move, but I'm looking forward to it. "The guys have faith in me and I have faith in them." Wheeler's resignation moved Yoder's plans ahead of schedule in becoming a head coach. "I wouldn't say I planned on this right away, it's just sort of the way it played out." Yoder's hiring gives the Spartans program a sense of continuity. Working alongside Wheeler meant he understood what was needed to move the program forward. "The administration knew I had a good rapport with the kids," Yoder said. Yoder will be taking over a program that was minutes away from making the playoffs last season. The Spartans are in a deep Rio Hondo League that boasts two teams (Temple City, Monrovia) that reached at least the quarterfinals. La Cañada returns talented quarterback Rocky Moore, but aside from him the Spartans will be thin. Still, Yoder has lofty expectations, even if it means they could turn into long-term goals. "We don't want to just try to succeed in league," Yoder said. "We want to get past the second round of the playoffs so we started in the weight room and doing more with our offseason program, adding more structure and go in the direction we set out." That means elevating the spring ball schedule and being more involved with the program. That can become challenging because of the multi-sport athletes at La Cañada, which Yoder is a fan of. "I'm really a big advocate of multi-sport athletes," he said. "I'm not a fan of specialization; it's good for them to be out there and competing." Mike Williams, who used to coach at La Cañada, will coach the junior varsity and he'll be assisted by his son, Gavin, a teacher on campus. The freshman staff is the same with Steve Zimmerman and Casey Mullet.
Brent Pattison will be the defensive coordinator on varsity and Yoder will call the shots on offense. Jerry Regan, who will coach the quarterbacks and defensive backs, John May and Brian Rodriguez, new to La Cañada, will make up the rest of the varsity staff. Yoder still is looking to fill the offensive line position. "We have interviewed a couple of guys," he said, "and we'll finalize that soon."


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Miguel Melendez said:

ObservantCat: That would be very pimp status. Hey, the girl I'm seeing right now likes the picture so it's all good.

Observantcat said:

Miguel, all you're missing is your pinky ring... LOL

goteamgo said:

18 coaches!!! Remember - too many chefs in the kitchen can ruin a meal.

Goldenarm said:

King,

The PA dude has no shortage of enthusiasm - that is for sure.

La Salle's weekly game program sold on Friday nights is going to need major revisions (coach wise)just like TC's will. By the way, La Salle's program is the National Geographic of SGV football football handouts, who has a better quality one??

COACHING QUIZ
head count on new coaches at TC -
between 15 and 18, depending on who you ask.
18!!!!!

Goldenarm said:

Stang Fan,

Are you saying Miquel's photo ranks with classic "man laws" like don't fruit the beer?

The way the picture is cropped narrow, it makes MM's mug look a bit strange, but according to Miquel, the babes are flocking to his So Pas crib....so he's got something goin on.
Once hell week starts however, our man is going to have to break out the tank top, testosterone photo, enhanced in Photoshop.

!stang! said:

Miguel,
Can we get your opinion on some of the area's top 10 returners? In a blog.... just to generate some football talk other then coaching changes...
STANG NATION!

Miguel Melendez said:

Stang Fan: Why you hating on the GQ pose? lol

The Stang Fan said:

Yo Miguel, you JUST might be violating a few "man laws" with that new flic....not too many honies up on the sports blogs bro. Lol!!!

Unless of course you took the picture directly after a "special evening"........

King said:

Goldenarm-

That is the voice of the great Pat Wickhem, a very strong and lasting tradition in LS football. He calls a great game!

Goldenarm said:

great info on the Lancers -

I remember last year somebody gave the PA announcer a temporary TC roster that had wrong jersey numbers all over it. It was blurry and the old dude was pissed when he found out it was laced with typos as well. We gave him a corrected version and he took the time to CORRECT each players name and position and announce it over the PA.
Pretty much indicative of the class act people associated with La Salle football.

King said:

Donk and goteamgo-

You both provide some great knowledge about LS football. Thanks for the update. Donk you might know this, but didnt they lose their D-ling and Secondary coach? Two coaches that had coached at LS the previous two seasons? From what I heard the players had a lot of respect for those two, but were almost pushed out of jobs mid-way through last season, for whatever reason. Should be interesting to see how these kids react to new coaches.

goteamgo said:

Based on what I have heard, La Salle will be returning anywhere from 20-25 players from last years team; up to 18 seniors, so they have some real experience. They will definitely run the ball more; some players that were not utilized much last year will definitely be carrying the ball this year. The O-line and D-line are solid; most are seniors, and most are returning. The LB and DB's will be more experienced, and should be solid.

The big question is who will QB; I feel confident that we will have someone to catch. The K/P is solid; he was the leading scorer last year, and had a 47 yd FG last season.

Hopefully the new strength/conditioning coach will keep the injuries down, which devastated the team last year.

As always, I am optimistic, and I hope that last season was La Salle's "economic downturn" and they are now in recovery mode. I know the returning seniors feel that they have smething to prove this season, that is, that last year was a fluke.

I probably have ran into Donk before, but may not know it.

The Donk said:

GA,
I have heard about some of the coaches on the staff, which is pretty much a new staff from last year. Coach Peterson has brought in a new defensive coordinator from the junior varsity last year and a new offensive coordinator. So Coach Peterson will not be running the defense this year, so he can focus on heading the team. The Defensive Coordinator is Coach Rambo, he has coached for over thirty years and has a lot of knowledge on the game. The offensive coordinator is Coach Walker, I believe that is his name. He coached with Tip Sanders at Blair and was his defensive coordinator. He will be the offensive coordinator this year, honestly I know a few of the coaches from last years squad and they said that he has so much football knowledge and his playbook is unbelievable. In terms of assistant coaches below them, Im not to sure. Should be a very exciting season for the Lancers, look forward to playing you guys at Temple City this year.

King,
Well I am not really sure if some of those players came back or what the story is there, what I do know is they have some very deep talent this year. Their lineman are almost all returning. So that should be very helpful. In terms of players that have left from last year, I will have to get back to you on that one...Chad at LC is awesome, how did he move up the ranks so quick, classic. Should be very interesting to see how that turns out. Good guy.

formerram said:

i thinks its 10 but might be over counting by 2or3.

BigFatFan said:

Matador: SP will be delivering the hits this year, count on it!!

King said:

Donk -

I thought La Salle was losing some of their key players from last years team? Have these guys decided to come back and play or whats the deal?
And whats up with Chad as the D coordinator @ LC?

Goldenarm said:

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

Number of new football coaches counted at Temple City High School?

1. 4

2. 7

3. 10

4. 18

Matt said:

Give the guy time. The feeling I get as well as what I hear is that the kids are really excited. He will energize a program that has been really underperforming for many years. They have a solid off season program and start spring ball in about a week or two. Let them play some games and then pass judgement.

Goldenarm said:

Donk,

Can you run down the La Salle football staff - is the staff complete and who is running the show?


DF,

Weston was LC's top defensive player last year, going neck to neck with Conora from TC for top tackler in the RHL.
Had Weston not missed a game due to suspension (correct me if wrong) he might have equaled Conora's regular season totals.

L Peterson is far and away LC's "stellar" athlete of recent times anyway. And yes, LC has had some excellent lineman, 3 or 4 solid kids just this last year.

Daniel Friese said:

I can think of numerous athletes over the past few years that were stellar at LC. The twins, Eric and Ryan Young were great early this decade. Lavelle Peterson strikes me as one of the most obvious. He was amazing! David Hopkins right before him was also one of the best in the area. They had a really good WR named Sparks that played with both of them. Sean Denny this year was All-purpose POY in the RHL. They've also had some great lineman with size recently with Hughes, Chu, and Tosello who was an all-area selection. They've definitely had some stellar athletes.

To me, the trick will be getting KC Mathews from softball and back on the coaching staff. He was the DC/O-Line guy for several years until, I think, 4 years ago. He's a good fit for the LC coaching staff in both football knowledge and experience at LC.

The kids at LC have a lot of pride. They play hard. Yoder will give them something to care about. They'll be better when they trust the coaches. I think they'll grow to trust him because he cares about the right things.

!stang! said:

Dan F,
Im still trying to figure out what tellar athletes your talking about?

!stang! said:

Dan F,
Im still trying to figure out what tellar athletes your talking about?

The Donk said:

Nice to see fellow La Sallain Brent Pattison calling the defense over at La Canada. He is a good, smart coach. Good Luck Coach Pattison.
La Salle is undergoing a whole new coaching staff, but I heard they have some very good athletes, maybe its not a shinking ship after all. I jumped the gun on that. Good Luck Lancers!!!

Daniel Friese said:

Say what you want about the interview, Yoder cares about integrity. He'll do just fine. Give him some time and he'll bring them around. They always have a couple of stellar athletes.

What I'm most interested in seeing is if he'll still like the multi-sport kids when they start quitting football to play baseball, basketball, & water polo. LC has been losing kids that could help the football program to those sports for a long time.

Goldenarm said:

INFO

I don't think people had yet seen Coach White to make the comparison, but I understand both your points and agree...particularly that the LC AD was laying down most of the rap with White looking a bit fish out of water a couple times.

Miquel

had you seen the interview, you would know why those comments were made. I got nothing bad to say about the guy, in fact his JV teams always played well against the Rams. I think MV still has the footage available...but really it is not value added anyway.

Good luck Coach Yoder.

JFMatador said:

Damn that south pas guy is getting blasted in that picture.

goteamgo said:

Spring football started at La Salle yesterday. MM should give Coach P a call for his next story

King said:

What kind of staff will he have? Anything like the TC staff?

Still no word on the happenings over on Sierra Madre aka La Salle huh?

INFO said:

Yoder was also on after Mark Koffler and and Ray Hernandez from SEM.

INFO said:

I think people were comparing him to the new Temple City Coach and when your female AD knows and speaks more about the football program then the Coach does it doesnt look too good.

Miguel Melendez said:

Not sure what you mean by "a lot of negative was made of his interview at Mid Valley" but I thought he was great in the interview I did with him over the phone. I saw him at the San Marino-LC baseball game and went up to introduce myself. We talked a bit and he seemed very comfortable. On the phone he was composed and, I thought, gave very good answers, especially about supporting multi-sport athletes. Just my $.02 ...

Goldenarm said:

Yoder will do well.

A lot of negative was made of his interview at Mid Valley - he won't be taking Letterman's or Leno's job anytime soon, but chances are he will get better with the media and greater exposure to it.

He needs a good O-line man though, because he wants to run the ball.

Matt - whats your take??

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About this blog

Miguel Melendez

Miguel Melendez is the Preps Editor at the Pasadena Star-News.

Melendez worked as a correspondent for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for three years and later landed a job as a freelance writer at the Los Angeles Times before accepting an offer at The Orange County Register covering high schools.

Melendez covered Major League Soccer at The Register for three years before being promoted to report on the Lakers, Angels and Dodgers for the Web. Melendez also worked for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fresno Bee, Oakland Tribune and The Boston Globe.

E-mail opinions, suggestions and tips to miguel.melendez@sgvn.com.

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Miguel Melendez published on May 5, 2009 11:24 AM.

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Softball: Will anyone take down Flintridge Sacred Heart? is the next entry in this blog.

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