4 minute read
Football team will miss defensive coordinator
a solidifier in its organization for decades. Most of all, he will bring a modern spin and a positive attitude for a team in dire need of a reboot.
Corner Sports Column
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In order to create a legacy, the process can last years and sometimes even decades.
Even with the right amount of talent, a stone can go unturned. There are limits without organization and in the end no matter how good a coach is, a program may never live to its true potential.
Fortunately for Pierce, they had for defensive coordinator Juan Navarro. He was and is a role model for how a coach should be. Someone who is brass, tough, tenacious, but at same time listens, is observant and not afraid of change.
Students, staff and players might be thinking: a Brahma leaving to become a Monarch? Sounds like a traitor. Well that would be anyone’s first impression but the truth of the matter is Valley needs to become competitive. The monarchs need someone to help clean the mess, start over and give a new outlook on the east side of the Valley.
More importantly, this is coach Navarro’s chance to prove that he can not only be just a man who can work as a second general, but be the heart and the pulse of an organization. Who knows what this job will do for the Florida native.
If in a few years, he turns this program into a competitive team and a recruiting competitor that rivals Pierce, the job could be used as a platform for something bigger.
will be playing the safety position for Pierce’s football team this fall. He hopes to transfer to a Division I school, preferably one in the Pac12 Conference, like UCLA, and eventually go on to the NFL.
“Pierce was the junior college that put out the most amounts of players into Division I, with really no comparison to other schools,” Morgan said. “Now, the rest is history.”
He grew up playing football, baseball, basketball, track and soccer. He said he definitely misses the Cajun style food back home, the May crawfish boils, but most of all Mardi Gras.
As a former “Ragin’ Cajun” at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Morgan was a “redshirt” freshman
Pierce, who surrendered five runsfour of which were unearned. After a missed groundball by Sawelson, who committed two of the Brahmas four errors on the day, with the bases loaded Wright dropped a fly ball in left field. That allowed two runs to score and by the end of the third; the game was well out of reach.
“We came out lazy today,”
Brahmas outfielder Dylan Tashjian said. “We got to come out with more intensity and jump on them from the get go. We can’t wait until the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to decide we want to come play.” for the team, which Morgan said was an accomplishment. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, student athletes are only allowed to play four full seasons, so players who are labeled as “Redshirts” can prolong their time with the teams without losing eligibility.
Juan Navarro, the defensive coordinator and associate head coach for Pierce’s football team, described Morgan’s body as long and athletic and said Morgan has a “good football IQ.”
“To play his position, you need enough muscle mass in order to prevent injury, and he needs to successfully build his body up to be at that level,” Navarro said. “He needs to continue to apply himself
Game two was tightly contested for both teams and required extra innings to determine the winner. Pierce looked to complete another comeback like did at Cerritos College, but the Condors would come out on top after a fielding error in the 12th inning ended the game. With the score tied at five and Condors outfielder Dustyn Cook at second, a ground ball hit to Pierce’s shortstop Austin Peters took a bad hop and Oxnard held on to defeat Pierce 6-5.
For full story visit theroundupnews.com physically in the weight room and his life needs to reflect his focus.”
Navarro also described Morgan as a polite man with great communication and cognitive skills.
“He has tremendous potential,” Navarro said. “If he develops the adequate consistent behaviors, he’s going to turn out to be great in whatever he does.”
Bentley Easley, a 19-year-old sports management major at Pierce and Morgan’s roommate, also is new to California, having moved from Florida.
“He’s always laid back and down to have fun,” Easley said. “He’s a good roommate because he likes to clean up and make things nice and tidy. Plus he’s one of the best safeties that has come to Pierce to play.”
These qualities are what made him one of the most respected and recognized coaches in the state and a key reason why the Brahmas football team is one of the best at recruiting tremendous talent. In his absence it will be these qualities that will allow Pierce to have continued success for years to come.
Now he goes to Valley College, the crosstown rival of Pierce. A team that is literally struggling to hold its own, not just as a football team but as a school that produces competitive athletics. Seeing the program that Navarro has helped create, he will be the perfect addition for the Monarchs, who as a team went 4-6 and had an embarrassing 1-6 conference record including getting smashed by the Brahmas last year 42-9.
With Navarro as head coach he will bring in toughness, diligence and respect for a team that hasn’t been getting any. He will bring help build a legacy that really hasn’t had
Summer 2014 Forecast:
So with coach Navarro leaving, he turned Pierce into a team that literally breeds defensive linemen and linebackers and turns them into competitive Division I prospects. With his legacy, players will continue to come to Pierce because of the Brahmas’ reputation for success. Now he gets to do it for lackluster Valley program, desperately needing life like a flower that hasn’t seen the sun or a drop of rain in years.
A new era is dawning at Valley with Navarro in the lead. It will be hard for the former Brahma who will literally be building a foundation with his bare hands. A first look at the practice showed a lot of dysfunctionality, with the players in disarray and no true leader Navarro has his work cut out for him. Turning this undisciplined group of boys into a formidable bunch will take some time and hard work.
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