Coach Q&A Page

A few minutes with Coach Chris Jones, the Head Coach at Vista del Lago

Question: Why do you coach?  What is your philosophy?
Answer: I coach because I love working with young adults. I am fortunate that my job as a teacher and football coach allows me to spend time trying to make kids better athletes. Football is what I know and what I do. In many ways my life centers around football. I love going to practice each day and look forward to the challenges that are presented to me on a daily basis. My philosophy on coaching is simple- It is my responsibility to give my players the best opportunity to be successful on the field. I think myself and my staff do a great job with that. We treat our players differently than most other coaches that I have seen. We establish a positive relationship with our players and we are always focused on teaching. I am not a big yeller or screamer. I am not a Knute Rockne guy either. I try to establish a positive working relationship with the players. I feel like we will get more out of them as players if we treat them as young adults.

Question: How long have you been coaching and what are some of your major achievements?
Answer: I have been coaching for now for fifteen years. This is my ninth year as a Head Coach. I was very fortunate to get a coaching job at the age of 19 and I learned a ton about coaching my first two years as a Varsity assistant coach. In terms of achievements, I would say that my greatest personal achievement was getting my first Head Coaching gig when I was twenty-five. I was in over my head but things turned out great for me. I was able to play in four CIF Section Championship games, winning three of them in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

Question: Tell me about the some of players that you have coached that have gone on to play in college.
Answer: I have had the opportunity to coach some great players. Great players make coaches look good. While I was at Oak Ridge, I was able to coach Anthony Pudewell (Nevada), Vinnie Miroth (Alcorn St), Shane Steichen (UNLV), Austin Collie (BYU), Seyi Ajirotutu (Fresno St), Isaac Kinter (Fresno St), Ryan Moya (UCLA), and Nick Anderson (Sac St).. All of these guys were great high school football players and were great kids to coach. As an assistant coach I was also able to be around some other great players as well.

Question:  Looking back at the players you have coached, tell me about some of the players that stand out for non-football reasons.
Answer: Working for so many years in El Dorado Hills and living there as well, I have always been amazed by the number of LDS families that made up our football teams. All of the LDS players were great students but also worked so hard in the community with various projects and with the church. Many of those same kids were Eagle Scouts. Those kids were amazing kids in that they were athletes, great students, served their community, and went to seminary each morning before school. I have a ton of respect for them as young men. One of the greatest things to be a part of is to watch those same kids grow up and do missionary work in various parts of the world and to see them when they return from a two year mission as a mature young man. I also thank that many of those same kids were some of the best players that I have been around and much of that comes from their family support and dedication.

Question: Can you tell me a favorite story about a player that you have coached?
Answer: My favorite story about a player probably has to do with Austin Collie. Austin was hands down the best player I have ever been around. He worked so hard and was so driven to be the best. Myself and the other coaches would talk to him and tell him that he couldn’t do something. He was so competitive and wanted to prove me wrong that he would spend hours working just to say that he could indeed do it. The best coaching decision I think we made as a staff was to make Austin our punter. He had the freedom to run a fake punt at any time. I think he scored four TDs from our punt formation and also ended up rushing for countless first downs.

Question: Can you tell me a favorite story about a coach on your staff?
Answer: My favorite story as with a coach is probably from this past year. We played all over the place this past season and our last game was in Hayward against Moreau Catholic High School. I rode the bus with the team and my assistant coaches drove down in a couple of different cars, stopping to eat some lunch on the way down. One of my assistant coaches, Doug Miller, who is a great guy and very funny, thought he got food poisoning. As the players dressed for the game he looked terrible and got worse during the pre-game. He spent some time in the locker room during the first half. We the team entered the locker room at halftime, Doug was laying on a table in some pain and not feeling very good. During the second half, I sent a couple of players in to check on him to see if he was OK and he attended our post game meeting with our players. As the players dressed and boarded the bus for the long ride home, Doug and the other coaches got into their cars and headed for the hospital. Later that night Doug had his appendix taken out and wound up spending about a week in the hospital in Hayward. Now some may not think that this is a funny story but knowing Doug and the type of person he his, this is an all time great. I felt sorry for him on one hand yet had to laugh on the other.

Question: What do you look for in your assistant coaches?
Answer: I look for assistant coaches that are team guys. Guys that I will work well with and who will blend in with my other coaches. I have some great assistants and we work very well together. When I interview potential coaches, I try to not talk about football and spend more time talking in general. I want to see if I can work with the individual.

Question: How do you handle parents as coaches?
Answer: I have had the opportunity to work with coaches that have had their son play in our program. I do not have a problem with parents as coaches as long as we are all working for the best for our program.

Question: What are the important things that you work-on as you build the program at Vista del Lago?
Answer: As we build our program here at Vista, I feel that the most important thing is to build a team and for our players to understand the idea of team. We will put our team before ourselves. I have spent a ton of time talking to our players about the mental aspect of the game of football- the challenges it presents. All of the kids that are now juniors at Vista came from a different school with different philosophies, beliefs, and experiences. We have taken those experiences and tried to make them positive attributes to our own program, but with our own touch. None of our players have won a CIF Section Championship and that is our ultimate goal in the future. I want our players to trust me and my staff. I also want them to trust each other and to hold each other accountable on and off the field. That is what team is all about.

Question: What is the outlook for the 2008 season?
Answer: We have our work cut out for us this year. We have a great schedule. I am not sure that there is another school like ours, with Juniors and Sophomores, that has ever played as difficult a schedule as we will this year. We talk about getting better each day and improving from one week to the next. We will take things one day at a time. We are going to be over matched at times this year but we will be better as a result.

Question: What will be the strength of the 2008 team?
Answer: I really think that the strength of our team is that we have been together for one year already. We were all part of the same team last year- coaches and players. That goes a long ways in developing our program. Our kids are great. They work hard and respond to our coaching style.

Question: As a new program with only juniors on varsity, playing a very tough schedule, how will you measure success? 
Answer: Our success will be measured not necessarily in terms of wins and losses but in terms of improvement. We are playing some of the top programs in the area. I want our program to be at that level eventually and the only way you get there is by playing quality teams.

Question: How will the youth program contribute the the VDL future?
Answer: We have a great relationship with our youth program, the Folsom Vista Jr. Eagles. Our coaches and the youth coaches have spent a ton of time together meeting and sharing thoughts and schemes. I consider the youth program a part of the high school program- an extension if you will. We have great leadership in place at the youth level (Greg Kendrick and Lance Moore). The Folsom Vista Jr. Eagles are a direct feeder program for Vista del Lago High School. We are already seeing the results of the youth program with our Freshman Football team. Many of our ninth graders have a year of playing in our system and it shows. It will progressively get better with each and every year.

Question: How do the players react to playing your home games at FHS?  Do they feel like road games?
Answer: I wish we played our home games at Vista del Lago but that is not going to happen. We are excited that our Freshman and the Folsom Vista Jr. Eagles will be playing their home games at Vista this year. My goal is to complete our stadium and eventually host our home games. As of now, we have a great practice facility- maybe the best around. Prarie City Stadium is a great place to play and our kids like it.

Question: How is the campus/community reacting to the VDL program?
Answer: I am excited about our players and this year will be a huge learning year for us. We have great support at school and we are growing in the community. Vista is a great place and we are establishing the tradition and the identity of the school. We want our program to grow and become icon of our school.

Question: Will any sophomores be playing varsity with the juniors this year?
Answer: Right now we have five sophomores on the Varsity team and all are contributing in a major way.