Jose Casagran had been away from the game for a few years when he was hired as the new head coach at Monrovia in March. Coach Casagran took some time this week for us to discuss his coaching experience, the upcoming season and why he decided to get back on the sidelines.
MVS: Where did you play your high school football and what position?
JC: I played high school football at Saint Francis high school. We are division one program back then in the Del Rey league. I got to play against a lot of great teams back then like LB Poly, Amat, Alemany, Loyola, Norte Dame and St. John Bosco every year. I played inside linebacker and offensive guard. It was a program that believed in playing the best and being disciplined, and I learned a lot about program building looking back at my time there.
MVS: Did you play after high school?
JC: I was fortunate enough to play for Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, where I played strong safety and outside linebacker. I was very proud to be a captain my senior year there.
MVS: When did you first decide you wanted to coach?
JC: Well, that’s an interesting question because all of my favorite jobs involved working with youth. For example, I worked as a day-camp counselor and director at the CC YMCA during college. I also work for the Clean and Green program, which was a tremendous program that offered at-risk youth jobs doing environmental projects in LA city during those years. So I guess working with young people was always my calling but I didn’t realize it until I decided to take a job as a long-term substitute teacher at Garfield high school in East LA before beginning my Masters program. I fell in love with teaching that year. Soon after, I was offered a job as the Frosh-Soph head coach. I got to work with some great young men that season that made that season a memorable one. I remain close to many of them today and we still talk from time to time. By the end of that year, I knew that I had a passion for teaching and coaching, and good coaching is good teaching.
MVS: What was your first coaching job? Last coaching job?
JC: I guess my first coaching job was as a B flag football coach at Saint Phillips Catholic school. Fun fact: I had the pleasure of coaching Loyola high school’s head coach Drew Casani there. My first coaching job with tackle football was at Garfield high school, as I mentioned before, where I eventually became the varsity Defensive Coordinator. My first head coaching job was at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights where we had a great run winning 4 league titles in 5 years. My last coaching job was at South Gate High School in LA city.
MVS: What do you feel was your greatest accomplishment so far as a coach?
JC: I’ve had a lot of great moments as a coach; some on the field and some off. I made two finals appearances which obviously reflect the great coaches and players that I worked with those seasons. Our run at South Gate to the finals was more improbable in that we were a 6th seed that made a memorable run to the finals and came within a minute of pulling a huge upset off, but as we were going in to score and seal the win an unfortunate turnover cost us the championship and we lost by two points to the two-time defending champions San Fernando high school. But honestly, maybe my greatest accomplishment was during my first run to the finals while I was at Roosevelt. Tragically, we had a player shot and killed the Saturday before the championship game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The effort it took to hold the team together while trying to prepare for a game that had suddenly become meaningless, but still had to be played was maybe my greatest accomplishment. I’m still haunted by that night.
MVS: You’ve been out of coaching for a few years. What were the factors that led to you jumping back into the game as the head coach at Monrovia?
JC: Monrovia high school has always represented for me a place full of tradition and excellence. I’m getting closer to the end of my career so I thought it would be a perfect place to make one final run and make an impact on the lives of more young men. After all, as coaches, that’s really the legacy we leave. It’s the impact that we make on the lives of these young men going forward and those relationships we forge that make coaching such an extraordinary experience.
MVS: Will your coaching style change with a new program or will your coaching philosophy remain the same?
JC: Well, my coaching philosophy is always based on putting a player in a position where they can succeed. I believe high school coaches need to be flexible and evolve as needed. I have always been able to adjust schemes to the talents of the players that I’m coaching. It’s not fair nor smart to ask a player to do something he’s not capable of doing so we try to adjust our offensive and defensive philosophies to the players that we have. I have coached everything from Delaware Wing-T, to the Spread Option, to our current form of using RPOs in the Spread offense. It gives me a lot of flexibility if need be. My coaching style has changed over the years just as I have grown more experienced anyway. Nobody should be the same person or coach at 50 as they were at 26. If you are then you really haven’t learned anything from life and I certainly have. There’s more than one way to reach your goals. Our job as coaches is to find the best way.
MVS: What coach had the biggest influence on you and why?
JC: That’s a tough question because I’ve learned from so many coaches. Some that I knew some that I didn’t know but read their books like Pat Riley. I try to learn as much as I can from every person that I have worked with; some taught me what to do and some taught me what not to do. I try to pull information from personnel all kinds of people that are successful not just coaches, I read a lot of autobiography is in biographies, and I always seem to pick up something that I can apply to my own life and my career. I think that’s the key to being successful. It’s surrounding yourself with successful people and then pulling from them one or two things that you can incorporate into your personal philosophy.
MVS: What do you think will be your biggest challenge at Monrovia?
JC: Definitely the biggest challenge at Monrovia is staying healthy. Monrovia has lower varsity numbers just like many other schools nowadays. We graduated 21 players from last season’s team leaving only 5 returning starters so we had to adjust practice plans to account for both the low numbers, but their learning curve with all new offensive, and defensive schemes. Thankfully I went through something similar in 2015 when we had some low numbers and a lot of newcomers yet we ended up having a very successful year. Having said all that, the future looks bright with the great freshman class we have this year. Another challenge was we didn’t start working with the entire team until the beginning of June because many of our players play multiple sports at Monrovia. Finally, I would add the lack of on off-season program. Monrovia didn’t have a weight lifting or speed development program in place (I am a staunch believer that you win games between January and August) so that will be a priority this upcoming off-season. The great part is that we have a lot of kids who are hungry to work hard.
MVS: How does the Monrovia squad look so far this summer? Who are some of your key players coming into the 2023 campaign?
JC: I think the team looks pretty solid. They have picked up the schemes fairly quickly and have continued to improve all summer long. A process I expect to continue throughout the season. We have a small senior class, but a lot of talent in there as well as with some underclass men. They are a gritty group that believe in themselves and love to complete. Overall we will be a young team with lots of room to grow.
Key players:
Robert Bush Sr. OT / DL . 6-2″, 285. All Río Hondo League, Utah State Young man is a leader with a great motor. A three sport athlete that makes plays all over the field.
Brian Salazar QB. Sr 4.0 GPA. 4.6-40 time. 6-2, 175. All Rio Hondo League. Leads by example. Great arm and speed. A 4.0 student as well. Another 3-port star that will be a handful for opposing defenses this year.
Noah Ellison Sr WR / FS. SR.3.8 GPA. 4.5-40 5-11, 180. All Rio Hondo League Center fielder in baseball as well. Great athlete with blazing speed, great hands and a competitive drive.
Davonte Jones Sr. RB, LB 5-9 / 185. Driven young man that loves to compete. Can play multiple positions at a high level.
Alex Ramirez Sr. RB-LB. 5-8 200. Anchoring the middle of our defense this year. Down hill player that has consistently improved this summer.
Joseph Webster Sr. G-DL, 5-11 230. A very smart and hard-working player with a very high motor. Will excel on both sides of the ball.
Byron Bell Soph RB / DB 6-0, 165. A dynamic player that can make players miss and has great vision running the ball. His hands have also improved and has developed into a weapon as a reliever as well.
Joshua Griffith Jr. WR / FS 5-8, 170 Another multi-sport athlete and dynamic player that is a gamer. Excelled this spring in passing competitions and will be a 2-way player for the Wildcats this year.
Frankie Zamora Jr. OL- DE 6-0, 225 One of the most versatile athletes on our offensive line. Fast, strong and smart. He will be an impact on both sides of the ball.
Dominic Lino Soph RB-OLB. 5-10, 185. Dominic has made great strides this spring and looks to be part of a great line backing core. A great athlete that will continue to develop as this season progresses.
Loading ...
I’ve known Casa’s coaching style for many years. I have witnessed the transformation of schools he has coached. He loves to win and is not afraid to play the best. Good luck Casa, in time, Monrovia football will return to it’s winning (all the time) ways.
If Belichick would have gone 5-11 the 2nd year he would not have finished the season. Maybe they let you stay 3 years as a loser HC in high school. They are paying you quite literally pennies so…why not?
Even if it’s true that parents have some kind of expectation doesn’t mean that it’s right.
Imagine if Bill Belichick would have been fired after going 5-11 after his 1st season with the patriots.
The parents of these teams dont care if the coach is working for free. No one is forcing them. They applied,were interviewed and convinced people they will work for pennies and will win now. If they don’t plan on winning say so. “I took the job as HC but don’t plan on winning for 3 years at least, If Im’ still here by then.” Still a ridiculous take except for maybe HC’s that need an excuse.
@The Insider,
just because there’s a lack of patience for coaches who make Pennie’s per hour doesn’t mean it’s right. A man invests his time into building a program and people who judge and won’t put the same amount of time in do want him out…. That may be the way things work, but that doesn’t make it right. Are there people judging your every move at your job? And are you making Pennie’s per hour for being held under that ridiculous microscope?
@FB. That is your worst of your many takes ever. Get hired any place and see if they give you 3 years to show results. LOLOLOL
A HC’s first year is when he instills the culture, drills, o and d schemes, etc. There are usually upper class men who will be resistant to the change. You don’t see a coaches full impact until year 3
I bleed green I played at monrovia he looks a step backwards in the hire. Been a way from the game for ten years things change in a big way. I went to few practices a staff over their heads.
Any coach that has been “Away from the game for a few years” will have a hard time catching up. The game changes rapidly, the ability to build a coaching staff and just get back up to speed physically in order to coach for an older coach will be daunting. Kids change also. They will buy in in the beginning but will it last after Monrovia fans pound him on these boards?
Love Monrovia’s fan base. They love their team. Any coach coming in that is not connected somehow to Monrovia football history is going to be looked at with doubt. For sure Monrovia will score plenty of points. But will they outscore opponents?
Geez Monrovia fans. Guy hasn’t coached a game yet and you’re already declaring his failure. Seems doomed from the start regardless of what the product is like on the field. Slow your roll a bit MTown fans.
Jerry chow was a successful coach but Monrovia alumni forced him out didn’t give him a chance because they want to be to involved in the program while in lausd it’s the opposite nobody is involved and the coach is allowed to run his show
Monrovia fans are going to be casagrans down fall they aren’t giving him a fair shake because they want to control the program and have alumni on staff. Casagran does things his way and he doesn’t care if you like or not
Hope he’s not another chow city coach. Chow was a great guy to loyal to a terrible staff he brought in
Good Luck Coach Casa & Monrovia High School!
I will be out there to support as much as I can.
I played under coach Casa for 4 years at Roosevelt and you will love him .He great coach , taught me diciplne ,great teacher , great motivator till this day .He was a huge reason I got into field I work in in helping troubled youth . To the day in my office that I influce my youth with are two quotes that Casagran motivated his players “
keep your eye on the prize “ and “ if you fail to prepare you prepare to fail “
This guy is awesome! Love him for Monrovia.
Great article Tim he’s says the correct answers. You can’t have the kids be committed if the coaching staff is wearing other schools shirts during practice. Not once has he reached out the community or alumni. Monrovia is a different place to coach at .