MITCHELL GETS ‘DREAM’ JOB AT CHRISTIAN

He takes over as coach, AD at school he led to Section title as QB

Danny Mitchell grew up on the Christian High football sidelines.

As a child, he idolized quarterback Daniel Jeremiah and the other great Patriots.

Now, at age 32, Mitchell is returning to Christian as head football coach and athletic director, replacing the highly successful duo of Matt Oliver as football coach and David Beezer as AD.

Both Oliver and Beezer resigned recently.

“The process has been a whirlwind,” Mitchell said. “I grew up on the Christian campus. This is a dream come true.”

Mitchell was a quarterback on Christian’s 2005 and 2006 teams, winning a San Diego Section title in 2006.

He played at NCAA Division II Willamette University in Salem, Ore., then worked three years as an assistant coach at Willamette under veteran coach Mark Speckman.

For four years, Mitchell was the architect of Bishop’s dynamic offense.

The last five months, he was the offensive coordinator at Torrey Pines, trying to install a new-look offense.

“In his short time with us, Danny has left a profound impact on our program,” said Torrey Pines football coach Ron Gladnick.

Mitchell’s father, Mike, who has more than 500 career wins at Coronado and 27 years at Christian, is also one of Danny’s

heroes.

“I played football, basketball and baseball at Christian, and watched my dad coach,” Danny said of Mike, who was on the football staff for two decades.

“My heroes growing up were my dad, Matt Oliver, David Beezer and Christian High players. I wore No. 8 because Daniel Jeremiah wore it, and Daniel was my hero.”

Daniel Jeremiah played at Appalachian State and now works for the NFL Network as well on Los Angeles Chargers radio broadcasts.

“There is a sense of excellence at Christian High,” Mitchell said. “Girls and boys basketball have very successful programs. Baseball with my dad is top-notch.

“Athletics has such an impact on high school students. Athletics are a great part of the high school experience.

“We’ve been successful, and I have a vision for growing the program. We’re a small school, so we need multisport athletes.”

Mitchell has no qualms about multitasking.

“I think I have an advantage because I’m so familiar with the school,” Mitchell said. “And there is a really good support cast on campus.

“I’ll pull from what I learned from Matt Oliver and David Beezer. Plus, I had the pleasure of working for Joel Allen at Bishop’s, a Christian High athlete and a man I consider one of the best in the business.

“I only worked with Ron Gladnick for five months, and he has become one of the mostinfluential people in my life.

“So I’m really optimistic.”

john.maffei@sduniontribune.com