PHS coach Machado leaving for Mission Oak
PHS’ Machado leaving for Mission Oak
Porterville High School is in search of a new head football coach.
On Thursday night, former PHS head coach Michael Machado was approved by the Tulare Joint Union High School District Board as Mission Oak’s new head coach. A Tulare native, Machado was an assistant coach at both Tulare Western (2003-04, 200910) and Mission Oak (2010-13) in previous years.
Machado became the Panthers head coach in January of 2017. In his three years leading the Panthers, Machado led the Panthers to the CIF Central Section Division IV playoffs twice with the team earning a No. 1 seed in 2018 and making it to the semifinals as the No. 4 seed in 2019. He finished with an overall record of 20-14 in his time with Porterville.
PHS athletic director Brian Hill said the school is now looking for a new head coach, but in the meantime, he and the rest of the assistant football coaches will handle the summer workouts that begin next week.
Porterville Unified School District cleared teams to start summer workouts on July 1. The workouts will mostly consist of conditioning, individual drills and weight lifting to follow the district’s COVID-19 Action Plan.
The fall sports practice season is still scheduled to start on July 27 for football, so Porterville doesn’t have much time to find a new head coach before the season begins. However the CIF will be making an announcement by July 20 if there’s a need for an alternative sports schedule due to COVID-19 and state health guidelines.