REMEMBERING FIVE ICONIC COACHES
MONTIRIY >> Names that will live forever in the Monterey County coaching community were taken from us this year. Iconic coaches at both the high school and junior college levels — even better human beings.
Perhaps the wounds that we’ve felt from their passing will slowly start to heal. Yet, the names of Chris Pappas, Luke Phillips, Gary Shaw, Norm Costa and Corky Haddan will live on.
Whether it’s stadiums, gyms, fields or tracks named after them, the credentials the fab five established in crafting their art for others to emulate are astonishing,
Between them are nearly 200 years of coaching, countless wins, streaks, titles and memories that have been engraved on hall of fame plaques.
This is the Mount Rushmore of Monterey County, plus one. Their philosophies continue today as coaches run similar schemes, or re-create the workouts that vaulted athletes into uncharted waters.
Chris Pappas
Inducted into the California Community College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2014, Pappas spent 57 years as a coach, a career that spanned seven decades — 40-plus years at Monterey Peninsula College.
Retirement wasn’t in the cards as Pappas continued to work with MPC kickers and punters in 2019 at the age of 89.
A classmate at San Jose State with fellow Hall of Famers and Super Bowl-winning coaches Bill Walsh and Dick Vermeil, Pappas spent 24 years as an assistant football coach at MPC under Luke Phillips.
A baseball coach as well, Pappas took the helm when Phil
lips stepped down in 1986 as the football coach for 10 years, earning Coast Conference
Coach of the Year honors twice.
Pappas served as the school’s athletic director from 1968-1990 and between 1992-1996. During his tenure as an administrator, MPC became one of the first schools in California to field women’s teams.
He was also inducted into the CCCAA Football Hall of Fame in 1999 and the CCCAA Athletic Director Association Hall of Fame in 2000.
In 1977, Pappas established the Adapted Physical Program — one of the first in the state at the time. He was instrumental in starting the Living Breath Foundation Bowl football game.
Luke Phillips
Named the head football coach at MPC in 1962, Phillips was at the helm for 22 years, compiling 161 wins — at the time the third most in CCCAA history
A co-captain on MPC’s first football team, Phillips earned a ride to Cal, where he was a member of the 1949 and 1950 Rose Bowl teams.
Upon retiring as a football coach at MPC, Phillips served as the men’s golf coach, guiding them to seven Coast Conference titles, eight Northern California championships and a state crown.
Originally hired as the Lobos head track and field coach, Phillips took the program to three conference titles. A versatile coach, he coached MPC to three conference tennis titles and two cross country crowns.
Phillips was inducted into the CCCAA Football Hall of Fame in 1997, the CCCAA Golf Hall of Fame and the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. He also was inducted into MPC’s Hall of Fame in 2000.
MPC’s football, soccer, and track and field stadium was renamed Pappas-Phillips Community Stadium this year.
Gary Shaw
Shaw chose the local route at Hartnell College, raiding the county of any senior interested in extending their track and field careers, building self-esteem and getting peak performances that spanned four-plus decades.
His deep baritone voice was a voice of confidence. Shaw’s office walls were covered with photos of athletes that he coached, turning a cast of local athletes into champions.
Passionate for the sport, Hartnell won 29 men’s track and field Coast Conference titles and 15 women’s crowns during Shaw’s reign — providing a team-atmosphere-first attitude.
Inducted into the CCCAA Hall of Fame for football and track and field, Shaw is also in the Hartnell College and Salinas Valley Hall of Fame.
When he stepped down as an assistant football coach, Shaw became the men’s and women’s cross country coach, churning out 18 Coast Conference titles and eight Northern California team titles.
The state cross country championships became an annual Thanksgiving celebration in Fresno. Shaw passed in July at the age of 75.
Between cross country and track, Shaw coached 18 state champions and sent hundreds of athletes off to four-year colleges on scholarships.
Norm Costa
Costa changed the culture of football at Palma School, bringing an attitude and toughness to the field that spiraled the program in a new direction.
The longtime Chieftains head coach left a legacy that has continued 40-plus years after his arrival in 1977, and after he retired in 1999.
Palma had won one league title before Costa arrived. Once he got the program pointed in the direction he wanted, it rattled off 18 consecutive league titles in the Mission Trail Athletic League, the Monterey Bay League and the Tri-County Athletic League.
When he retired, the Chieftains had won 16 straight league titles and seven Central Coast Section divisional championships
Between 1989-1992, Palma went 44-0-1. Costa never lost more than two games in a season after 1988.
Over a 36-year coaching career that included stops at Holy Cross and Marello Prep in Santa Cruz, Costa finished with a 25365-4 overall record — No. 4 alltime in the CCS. He won 200 games at Palma. He passed on May 2 at the age of 78.
Corky Haddan
An iconic figure among basketball coaches in the county, Haddan won over 800 games in his career, which began in a small town in Nebraska with a state title, and ended at Alisal.
During his tenure at Alisal, Haddan took the program to a Central Coast Section title in 1971, when there were no divisions in the postseason. It was the first section crown for a county team.
The Trojans reached the section finals three straight years, posting a 28-2 record in 1972. The Haddan coaching tree includes Jim Rear, as well as Haddan’s son Mark, and grandkids Casey Neigh and Carly Haddan.
Haddan returned to Alisal after a short retirement, coaching the JV program for 15 years effectively into his 80s before retiring in 2006.
Inducted into the Salinas Valley Sports Hall of Fame and Alisal Hall of Fame, the school’s gym is named after Haddan. He passed at 95 in November.