Darren Yafai doesn’t teach literature to dozens of Gilroy High
students. He teaches football.
But even Yafai had recommended reading for his pupils this
summer.
Darren Yafai doesn’t teach literature to dozens of Gilroy High students. He teaches football.
But even Yafai had recommended reading for his pupils this summer.
At practices this preseason, he made sure to remind them about the book and recent Sports Illustrated article on Concord’s De La Salle High School, the nationally known football powerhouse that has won 151 straight games.
“It’s a remarkable program,” Yafai said. “The reason they win is not because they have the best athletes.
“It’s because the players stay involved and work at it year round.”
By the preseason, though, Yafai knew he was just preaching to the choir.
In 2003, Gilroy got off to a 4-0 start before things quickly fell apart. The Mustangs not only went 1-4 in the ultra-competitive Tri-County Athletic League, but were forced to forfeit one of their non-conference wins because of a clerical error involving an ineligible player.
“It was an OK season … not great,” Yafai said.
And that simply wasn’t good enough for the GHS underclassmen.
At the season-ending meeting just days after the final game, the seniors were bid farewell and the goals were set.
“We determined right then,” now-senior quarterback Peter Mickartz said, “that we weren’t going to settle for another season like that. Our goals are a league and CCS title.”
So they got started right away.
The players started lifting weights almost immediately and most increased their squat by at least 100 pounds, according to junior center Bobby Best.
Mickartz alone went from 230 to 380.
“It just seemed like guys were more motivated,” he said.
And that didn’t come to an end once the lazy days of summer kicked in.
There were 7-on-7 passing drills every Wednesday night, two offensive line competitions and a pair of teams camps at Gilroy and San Jose City College.
Then, just last week, the team traveled to Camp Roberts near Paso Robles.
For three days, they slept in the barracks, ate in the mess hall with the soldiers, took courses on leadership and problem solving and found time to practice twice a day.
“We were all jogging on a tank trail,” Yafai said, “and one of my players looked at me and said, ‘Coach, you’ve seen ‘Remember the Titans’ way too many times.'”
Like the movie, though, the motivational tactics seemed to work.
“It was great to get out of our environment like that,” Best said. “Good for team bonding.”
Perhaps the true test of the team’s pledge of hard work, though, came in the form of summer-long 6am practices every weekday, something that had never been done before at Gilroy.
The team’s motto, according to Yafai, was “we’re out here getting better, while everyone else is out there sleeping.”
“The coaching staff wanted to find out just who was dedicated … who was willing to jump on the train,” he added.
“We were very pleased with the results.”
Out of around 60 players, only a few – no more than usual – dropped out of the program.
The commitment, Yafai said, led him to come to one conclusion.
“As a player and a coach, I’ve been affiliated with this program for 12 years. And this is the hardest-working team I’ve seen in those 12 years.
“As far as time invested from the team and the coaching staff, it’s never been better than this.”
Will it result in more wins on the field, though? After all, that’s the true test.
As usual, the schedule is tough. Non-conference games at Gunn and Watsonville won’t be easy. And as long as San Benito and the trio of Salinas powers are still around, T-CAL will never be easy.
The Mustangs do return a boatload of starters, though. The offense loses quarterback Ben Hemeon and running back Melvin Bryant, but retains eight other first-teamers.
And on the other side of the ball, the defense returns seven starters.
Those returnees – and the offseason commitment shown by them – has Yafai and his team thinking big.
“We want a championship,” he said. “We don’t want 5-4-1 like last year or 7-3 and losing in the first round, like 2000 and 2001.
“We want to do things Gilroy hasn’t done in long, long time.”
