New head football coach for NMC
CASTROVILLE >> Of all the candidates that expressed interest, it turns out that the one that made the biggest impression was in their own backyard.
North County High didn’t waste a lot of time in finding a new head football coach, as offensive coordinator Juan Cuevas was named Wednesday as the program’s new coach.
“He’s a hard worker,” Salinas coach Steve Zenk said. “He is passionate about players and football. He will spend countless hours breaking down film. Just a great guy.”
Cuevas served on Zenk’s staff in 2018 as a defensive line coach. Prior to that, he had been a defensive coordinator at Alvarez for two years.
“North County found a coach that is going to go above and beyond every step,” former Alvarez coach Brad Mendes said. “He’s one of the hardest workers you’ll find.”
A 2006 Alvarez graduate, Cuevas replaces Sean Gomes, whose contract was not renewed in December following the Condors’ most successful season in 10 years.
“It’s been my ultimate goal to be a head coach since I started
coaching 12 years ago,” Cuevas said. “I have had this dream. When it opened up, I jumped at the opportunity. I was prepared.”
The Condors offense showed significant improvement in Cuevas’ first year as the coordinator, going from 159 points in 2018 to 224 last season.
“I think what was important was to find someone that’s familiar with the direction we’re going,” Cuevas said. “The biggest thing I’ll tweak is what we do Monday through Friday.”
At one point last year, North County rattled off five straight wins for the first time in a decade and was 3-0 in league before losing two of its last three games by a total of five points.
“I want to get to work,” Cuevas said. “I want to sit down with these kids and give them a vision and what will be different, what the expectations will be. We have to get in the weight room.”
While Cuevas isn’t on campus, he’s a physical education teacher at the Castroville and Prunedale elementary schools in the North Monterey County Unified School District, and is five minutes from campus.
“Winning doesn’t start in August, it starts in January at 6:30 a.m. in the weight room,” Cuevas said. “The numbers in the weight room in the past have been low. We’ve got to change that.”
Cuevas, who arrived in April last year as the Condors’ offensive coordinator, took over the weight room program, helping bring the numbers up from eight to 30 by the end of the summer.
North County had 75 kids in the program last year filling out two levels.
“We’re going to get the tempo cranked up,” Cuevas said. “I learned a lot under coach Zenk and his organization. Brad (Mendes) was an awesome human. And I have so much respect for coach (Gomes).”
The Condors, the second-winningest program in the county over the past 30 years, haven’t been to the postseason since 2010.
The program won league titles in the old Mission Trail Athletic League, the Monterey Bay League and the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League — as well as three Central Coast Section divisional crowns.
“There is pride here,” Cuevas said. “You’re reminded when you walk in the gym with all the banners. The kids understand the expectations. My job is
to remind them it’s a process to winning.”
Cuevas will take over a program that has shown progress in the win column in each of the past three years, posting a 6-4 mark last fall.
While graduation stripped the Condors of a core that had been together all four years, the cupboard isn’t bare with the return of tailback Kobe Hatton and lineman Marcos Calderon.
“I don’t see it as a rebuilding year as much as retooling,” Cuevas said. “I believe we have the talent to compete with most teams. It’s going to be about how we prepare. That starts in the classroom. We have to take care of our homework so our best players are eligible. We have to lift more. I know they’ll follow my lead.”