MidValleySports.Com

Azusa HC has been coaching at Azusa in some capacity since 1994

By Steven Mercado

(Azusa)- For Azusa High School HC Joe Scherf, football is more than a game. There is more to the sport than winning.

Scherf has been around football his whole life. The first game he remembers watching is when he was eight years old. The 1980 Super Bowl between the Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers ended in a 31-19 Steelers victory. He was so upset, he cried.

This event was a harbinger of how big a part football would play in Scherf’s life. He started with flag football, moved up to tackle football in high school when he played cornerback at Azusa, and after he graduated, he took his skills to Azusa Pacific University.

Scherf knew he wanted to stay around football after college, so after he graduated from APU, he wasted no time and became an assistant defensive backs/receivers coach in 1994.

From 1994 to 2004, the Aztecs had only one winning season. Craig Schuster took over as head coach in ‘04 and in 2005 and led Azusa to a 4-2 league record; the Aztecs first winning season in over a decade.

“[Coach Schuster] did a really good job of building us back up, getting the weight training started, getting the kids motivated, and he did a good job of getting them to where we are and where we wanted to be,” Scherf said. “I’ve just kind of continued that when I took over and made some other adjustments here and there.”

To say he “just kind of continued” being successful is an understatement. When he became head coach in 2008, he wasted no time in bringing the football program at Azusa to a level it had not seen in quite some time. Scherf’s first season as head coach resulted in an undefeated league record at 6-0, going 10-2 overall.

The team’s success continued under the reigns of Scherf, going undefeated in league for the next three seasons, making it four consecutive league titles. Scherf credited not himself, but the coaching staff and the players for bringing this success to Azusa.

“It helps to have my staff consistently here. I’ve pretty much had the same coaches for the last five years,” Scherf said. “We were also fortunate enough to have pretty good quarterbacks for those four years…and a lot of kids who were really good role players at their positions. We were able to put it together somehow and make it happen.”

Last season was a rebuilding year for the Aztecs. With young players plus injuries and problems off the field as well, Scherf says it was no surprise that Azusa suffered their first three league losses with Scherf heading the team.

“We had problems both on the field and off the field with that group of seniors and it was not a good situation, so to finish 5-5 was actually pretty good for that team,” Scherf said. “We had a shot at winning the league championship with two games to go and we blew it.”

Scherf brought success to Azusa High School football ever since he took the head coaching spot, but there is something special about Scherf that has propelled Azusa to new heights. He is a players’ coach.

“I’m not a yeller, I’m not a cusser, I’m not an in-your-face kind of guy,” Scherf said. “I’m trying to teach these kids a little bit of self-discipline, respect, being a man about things, and making good decisions.”

Being this kind of a teacher for his players is something that Scherf has established as a part of his identity as a coach. He wants to be a role model and a teacher for these kids because he is a coach who genuinely cares about his players.

“I don’t want them looking back on me as a coach saying he was a jerk, but he was a good coach,” Scherf said. “I want them to think of me as a good person and to learn from that and know someday they’re going to be a family man, they’re going to possibly have kids, and they’re going to be the leaders of their family. I want us to reflect that so that someday, they can develop into a good family man.”

Not only does Scherf teach his kids to be good men, but he practices and teaches indirectly that being negative and using that “military style” of coaching only brings negative outcomes, including kids running away from the team. Scherf has proved that positivity can bring a team to success.

“We don’t generally punish kids for things they do wrong; we suspend them for games and stuff, but there’s no physical punishment or conditioning that goes along with that,” Scherf said. “We’re not a military type of football [team] like a lot of places are with that kind of attitude. We’re out here to have fun first; that’s our priority. Everything else will come along as long as we’re having fun first because if you’re not having fun, why are you playing?”

Head coach Joe Scherf is the prime example of a good role model with the lessons he teaches his players and the attitude he possesses about coaching, the game of football, and life. To Scherf, coaching is not all about winning. It is so much more than that.

“I believe the way I coach, the way they’re learning from me, if they decide to coach someday or even with their families, they’re going to lead that way.”