Former St. John Bosco coach Kiki Mendoza has turned down an offer to be Los Altos’ next head coach.
Mendoza phoned the school Monday to inform them of his decision. But I’m starting to wonder if he called some our blog regulars first since it was widely reported here days ago by certain bloggers/insiders. Love you guys. Keep doing what you do.
Anywho, now I’m getting the feeling that Los Altos, for all intents and purposes, is back to Square 1. Mendoza was reportedly one of three finalists, but don’t expect the other two to get a call now. The school is going to open the position back up and go through all of its applications again.
By the way, one player from the ’09 frosh team has transferred to Bishop Amat.
Anyway, I spoke to Coach Mendoza to get the answers behind his decision. Here’s what he said …
Why?: My decision had nothing to do with anything negative on the Los Altos side. The people at the school made it so difficult to say now. But everything didn’t line up like I thought it would. I live in Seal Beach and my wife teaches in Downey. With all of my family being out this way and me having to be out there (Los Altos) late at night, it just didn’t line up. My family sacrificed for 20 years with me at St. John Bosco and this situation was going to be put me too far away from home.
Were you scared off by the current state of the program?: Winning games is a matter of what the talent level is at the current time and nobody can control that. They’re going to be successful there because the administration wants to have a good program. I was very impressed by the way they handled the process. I could tell they take great pride in the football program. Whoever the next coach is, they’re going to get plenty of support from the principal and the AD, that’s for sure.
Now … onto AD Steve Garcia … talk about a guy with a lot on his plate. Garcia knows what’s at stake here. He’s feeling the pressure and I’m certain he’s trying to do the right thing. Here’s his answer to certain questions and concerns …
Is it true the school is mandating that former coach Felipe Aguilar has to be part of the staff?: That’s not true. We want the person who’s in this position to take ownership. Any coach needs to build his own staff.
Are you back to Square 1?: We’re not back to Square 1 totally. We’re still in the process of finding the right person for the job. There’s still a lot of candidates who put their hat into the ring and we’ll go back and cultivate some of those names. We’re trying to do what’s right for the kids. Our kids are still working hard and there’s still 50-60 kids doing what it takes to get ready.