Desert Valley Blitz

EP#29-From CIF Quarterback To Xavier Prep Head Coach-The Michael Karls Story

• CV Hustle Studios • Season 1 • Episode 29

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A CIF championship quarterback becomes a head coach, and the mindset shift is bigger than any playbook. We sit down with Xavier Prep Saints head coach Michael Carls to trace how a lifelong love of football turned into a leadership mission after an injury ended his playing career. He breaks down the addictive part of coaching: building a plan during the week, installing it with precision, then watching it come alive under the lights when your players execute it perfectly. 

From his Palm Springs days, Carls brings a clear standard: league wins matter, but CIF championships define the goal. We talk about how that postseason mentality translates to building Xavier Prep football, including what he wants the program to look like on the field and what he refuses to compromise off it. Carls also digs into offensive philosophy, including run and shoot roots, quick-game timing, and the most important rule of all: adapt the scheme to your quarterback and your roster. If you love the details of high school football strategy, you’ll hear how he teaches “what did you see?” so players understand why a call works, not just what to do. 

We also get real about the modern CIF landscape: new league structures, preseason scheduling, and the playoff algorithm that can reward or punish teams in surprising ways. Carls shares how he thinks about controllables, why staffing is about teaching and mentoring as much as X’s and O’s, and what advice he’d give young coaches trying to break into the profession. If you’re a player, parent, coach, or fan in the Coachella Valley football scene, there’s plenty here on culture building, player development, and college readiness. Subscribe, share the show with a coach or parent who cares, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome back, everybody, to Desert Valley Blitz Coach's Corner Edition. Today's a very special episode because we have one of the brightest young minds coming into our coaching profession, head coach of the Xavier Prep Saints, Mr. Michael Carls. Thank you for coming in. Welcome.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you guys for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. Just glad to talk about the Saints. Awesome. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02

Well, take us back to the beginning. Like I know you're in Midland. Is that when you started thinking about coaching or was it after? How did this little itch start?

SPEAKER_04

Oh boy. So like football-wise, I've been playing football since I was six years old. Okay. 1998 PDLQ alum, junior micros, played from 98 to 04 there, and then um ended up going over and playing in Palm Springs. But for me, I've just been so immersed in football my whole life. That's all I've ever wanted to do. Just chase the dream of playing for as long as I can. It actually kind of scared me to ever think about like not playing. And then so I was trying to find every which avenue I could to try to get into, you know, continuing on. Um I was playing uh some semi-pro football with the SoCal Coyotes for a little bit. Um but I was also coaching, I started coaching at Xavier at the same time. And then um, once I tore my knee up, uh, that was it for the playing. And so I really like dove into um the coaching side of things. And you know, once you the first time that you look at a defense, you design a play that week, you install it, you practice it, and then when it hits perfectly in a game, there's it that's where I got the the uh the excitement again of like I don't need to play, I can actually coach and and let these guys do what what they're supposed to do on the field.

SPEAKER_02

I still get that thrill of playing kind of um you know, from as a coach instead of having to play. I think I think that's why I do it too.

SPEAKER_04

So yeah, no, and it and it's you you get the excitement through these guys because it's you see all of the trial and error week to week. Like there would be times where I'd have a uh like a screen pass installed like week one, but saving it to like week five or six, and then there's the times where yeah, it works, and then there's the times where it just completely blows up, and you're like, I just wasted five weeks of install on this. So great.

From Player To Coach After Injury

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Our community, taking it back a little bit though, probably remembers you from a like recent, really great team. I mean, it's kind of recent, like 2009. Uh Palm Springs Indians won a CIF championship.

SPEAKER_03

First one in school history.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and you were the you were the quarterback of that team. Yes, sir. So kind of bring me back to that time, and and I mean, I'm sure you know your days in Palm Springs, you look back very fondly upon, but how did that kind of shape you to where you're kind of going now? Like, what is there gonna be some Palm Springs influence from your playing days to come to Xavier? How how we how do we how's that influence?

SPEAKER_04

Give me chills thinking about it. No, it's awesome because um, you know, I was able to I went to St. Teresa, so I would go to the Palm Springs football games. My sister went there, and so I was able to watch guys like Scott Saunders and AJ Scott and MD McClain and watch those Andy Keene and watch those guys be able to make those CIF runs um and then unfortunately fall short a couple of times. And so um for me it I all I kept thinking about was man, I like I want to be that guy that helps take this team over the edge and be able to bring a CIF championship to uh Palm Springs, and then so you know what's funny is when we're at Palm Springs, um you know, league titles are cool. Like we we enjoy having league titles, but we always had a saying, like, yeah, league titles are cool, but we're looking for CIF championships. Like that's that that's what what we're focused on, right? And so um being able to do that and then now have this opportunity at Xavier to be able to take us over the edge and possibly have a chance at CIF titles, um, that's what's really exciting for me. And so um being able to bring that mindset from Palm Springs of like we have bigger things to um focus on than just of course we want to compete in the valley, and of course we want to be league champs, but we want to be able to compete outside those windmills, past those mountains, because there's tons of guys that can play football all over Southern California, and we want to be able to compete with those guys just as much. Absolutely, man.

SPEAKER_00

And that's what you guys, I mean, you guys are really the first team in a while to go out there and and get it done and win that championship in 09. You know, you had a great team, you had some you had some great people around you, too. I mean, the last guy we had in here was your running back, Mr. Nick King, who's also a head coach, which is a pretty, pretty uh great coincidence for for you guys.

SPEAKER_04

I'll give you another funny thing about that too, because um in the CIF championship game, it still haunts me to this day, we had a trick play, like it was one of uh it's in like the late fourth quarter, um, we had a trick play that Nick King throws a double pass to me. Ah right. And so we had that and end up, I I end up getting blasted in the end zone. I end up dropping it. But like it is kind of funny to think about like all the different ties in the valley and how you can play like the six degrees of separation with with a lot of dudes and a lot of the coaches too.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. And that's part of the reason we do this show is to kind of show everybody, hey, we're interconnected. I know you're a Palm Swings guy, you're a PDOQ guy, but you know, we're all still in the same community and we're all we all still need to work together to accomplish the same goals. You know, we're all root, we should all be rooting for each other when we're outside of the valley. So that's kind of uh you've kind of fit that mold. So I'm glad to hear that.

SPEAKER_02

You you played safety, right? And then you switched the quarterback.

Palm Springs CIF Mindset At Xavier

SPEAKER_04

How did that so um originally like at Palm Springs, um, I was competing my junior year, I was competing with the the senior quarterback at the time in the preseason. And so um we would go back and forth drive after drive, and then I still slowly started to see like my reps getting taken away on the offensive side, and then I slowly started to get pushed more into playing safety, um, which I I'm a football player first. That's what I always tell, I used to tell recruiters that I used to tell everybody that I'm a football player first, but I also can play quarterback, right? So anywhere the team needed me was great. I'm not gonna say that I was down there making tackles and making all these plays, right? Um, which funny enough, Coach Daryl at Palm Springs, he was my DV coach. Um, he used to call me the supervisor, right? So I would play free safety and I just make sure guys would be down. Everybody, okay, balls on the ground, okay, we're good. Like there's no big plays. Right. It also helped that I had two senior linebackers in front of me that had a hundred plus tackles apiece, right? So not much that I had to do in terms of getting guys down, but um, it was beneficial for me because um, especially now, this is the time where you know, kids when they feel like they're not getting the reps that they should or they feel like they're not getting the opportunities, it's really easy to be able to just leave or or try to transfer and try to find new opportunities. For me, I had to wait my turn the entire time. I didn't get to start as a senior quarterback or as a quarterback until my senior year, right? And so I had to take that opportunity and do as much as I could with it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Now, I mean, I don't think I'd ever change, you know, knowing what I know now, I don't think I would ever change that because I think it shaped who I was. It it helped build a chip on my shoulder, not only for um me as a football player, but for me as a as a human being of being able to um go through something that is tough and and feel like that uh I'm not um g be given an opportunity, but being able to buy my time, kind of similar to me as a coach now, yeah. Being able to learn and develop and grow as a coach, and then being able to be ready when called upon uh to be a head coach.

Waiting Your Turn And Earning Trust

SPEAKER_00

I love that. Yeah, yeah. You definitely put your time in. I mean, you were the OC there for a couple years, so you know the school. I mean, it's it was a natural fit, I think, for you to kind of ascend to this position. Um, kind of thinking on those terms, I want to turn the corner a little bit on philosophy. So you're are you you're an offensive guy, correct? You you're gonna stay on that, you're thinking you're gonna stay on the side of the ball.

SPEAKER_04

Uh yeah, so offensively, um, that's just where I've cut my cut my teeth and um yes.

SPEAKER_02

Very very detailed oriented oriented. I I got to work with you a couple years ago at the All-Star game, and I was very impressed. You just dialed in.

SPEAKER_04

So Yeah, I appreciate that. And uh one of the persons that I I have to give credit to is another former um desert coach. Um, when I first came back from college, um, the first person to kind of sit down and teach um the run and shoot to me was Coach Brett Davis.

SPEAKER_00

Are you a Davis disciple?

SPEAKER_04

Uh I guess I would be I guess I would be a Davis disciple. Well, so like I learned it from Coach Davis, and then um Coach J. David Miller, who's the head coach at Desert Chapel, he was our head coach at SoCal Coyotes, and then also got to introduce me to Mouse Davis, who's the godfather of the run and shoot. So I got to to teach or learn it from Coach Davis, but I also got to learn it from the guy who really took off with it, Mouse, and then also be able to sit down and talk with June Jones as well. So like I I've gotten immersed in the in the run and shoot family. Wow.

Run And Shoot Roots

SPEAKER_00

Okay, so what I'm hearing is Xavier might be opening up opening up the opening up the offense a little bit this year, huh?

SPEAKER_04

Well, so we I mean, for me, at least uh offensively and defensively, we want to accentuate the skills of our players, right? Um, like my first year as an OC, I had a six, seven pocket passer quarterback. I'm five nine and I would run all over the place when I played, right? So being able to adjust the strength of what the players are good at versus what I want or like are two different things, right? Because like for me, when I'm when I'm talking to quarterbacks, right, I want to know what they see on the field, right? It's easy for us from the side to be able to see, oh, that guy was open or that was open. But they're looking at it from their point of view of like, there's all these different moving parts. So they might see something that's completely different than me. So what I like may not work because of what they see. So they have to be able to trust what the play call is for them and be able to execute it on their own.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I mean, but still that's kind of exciting if you're a receiver or quarterback going to Xavier, you're gonna get opportunities, right? Absolutely. To throw the ball around, and that's just all, you know, that's what kids want these days. So that sounds pretty exciting.

SPEAKER_04

And with the way that the the the game of football is is kind of being steered towards or or geared to is you know, you have to have uh some competent quarterback play if you want to win championships. Yes, right. Uh in in in league, right? We in our league at least, we're kind of a run-heavy league in a sense, right? And so, you know, it it's very beneficial for when we make it to the playoffs and and are able to um grind out certain games, but you know what what happens when you run into a team that is just as strong or is just as tough, you know, and you have to put the ball in the air because there are so much more opportunities on the perimeter. They're stacked in that box, right? And so we have to be prepared for both of those cases.

SPEAKER_00

You know, that's fun football to watch, too. Yeah, always have some good receivers over there, too. Yeah, and I think it plays to your strengths, well, at least with your traditional strengths and players' talents. You guys always had some really good athletic receivers over there, just a quarterback to get on the ball.

Building An Offense Around Players

SPEAKER_04

So it seems like that plays into your philosophy, and the you know, just being able to have those skill guys and then being able to marry it with like the run and shoot concepts is you know, you don't necessarily need to have the biggest line that blocks for three, four, five seconds, right? We're kind of a two and a half and and get the ball out type of um scheme. But um, you know, being able to marry that with some of the run things too, because we do have quarterbacks in our system that can run as well, and I don't want to ever like um uh hand tie them to one certain thing, right? Like I had a coach in um in college, we were in practice one time, and I'm rolling out and I throw back a little bit across my body and I throw a touchdown and I'm like uh super excited, and then my coach is ready to cuss me out because you know, I I threw it back across my body. He's like, that's a that's a cardinal sin. I'm like, coach, he was open. It was a touchdown. Like I just I'm I'm trying to make a play, right? Right. And so, you know, I never want to to ever discourage a kid that that uses his instincts in the right way and is able to also protect the football as well, right? Like when I ask you and uh or ask a player what they saw or what they did, and they go, I don't know. Well, no, seriously, tell me because I I really it doesn't matter like that it it was right or wrong. I want to be able to correct that whatever way that I can. If it was right, good. Here, let me tell you why you all those things are right so you can do it again. And then if it's wrong, here let me help you fix whatever it is that was wrong and then use it moving forward.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. I know when I was a DC, I'd always pull my captain. If we were getting our teeth handed to us by a certain team, I'd always pull my captain over uh when they come off the field and see, hey, what what are you seeing out there? Because I can only see so much from up top. You only stare at one person. Yeah, you can yeah, I can only so it's you're really good that you're relying on your players to kind of give you some input because ultimately we're all trying to do the same thing, right? And they're gonna see it at a different angle, and you gotta you gotta take as a coach their their viewpoint and adjust from them. So that's a good philosophy.

SPEAKER_02

And on the flip side, I think they'll trust you more when you're asking their opinion, and especially when you incorporate it in a game plan, they they really buy into it even more.

SPEAKER_04

So no, absolutely, and that's that's huge too, is is the buy-in into the game plan. Like instead of just having plays, like I want you guys to understand why we're calling this or why this is uh going to work against this defense or or um what we're doing to set up another play, right? And then so now, you know, like um uh in 2021 when I had Ryder Ruiz, one of the one of the best quarterbacks in the valley's ever seen, it was it almost got to a point where it was like he knew what I was going to call, or he was telling me, hey, this is we got this going, like we we can go, go, go, right. And so um, that's when it's really fun, is when they're on the same page as you, and now it just it almost becomes effortless when you're calling them.

SPEAKER_02

You get to kick back a little bit, right? And just let them do their thing. That's that's really fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Having trust in your players. Yeah, yeah. Those Ruizes are they got another one coming up pretty soon. I think you're gonna see him another one? Yeah, you're gonna see him in a couple of years. Yeah, he's he might be better than all of them. What's he playing? Quarterback. Oh quarterback. Shout out, shout out to Byron. He's gonna he's gonna do some big things. Um, so you had mentioned it before, you know, we all we all have help getting to spots that we've gotten to in life and people that have kind of shown us the way. Who are some of your mentors that kind of helped you get to this position that you're in now?

SPEAKER_04

Um, I'd say I'd I've taken uh a lot from many of the different coaches that I had in my life. Um, my dad was one of my first coaches, you know, he was always there, PDLQ, all the way up until high school, and then kind of let me, you know, go on and learn from other guys. But um from an X's and O's standpoint, from running the football and and being able to understand blocking schemes, Steve Fabian was ahead of his time.

Teaching Players To See The Game

SPEAKER_00

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SPEAKER_04

Steve Fabian was ahead of his time. Legend. 100% because there were things that we would do, like um, in terms of like counter option from gun or um all these different other like misdirection plays that like to the people at the time would think, like, that what is that doesn't even look right, or like we would have like unbalanced formations and and and teams would wouldn't know how to line up to it, or they would or overload it. And then for me, it made it easy because then I can just check read option weak side and then be able to pitch, and now I'm pitching to Nephi Garcia, who's gonna take it 80 to the house, right? Like, so it was so like for to be able to have Fabe and and the way that he was able to um teach us how the blocking schemes worked, right? Like how to do a full block, how we're supposed to get to double teams, right? And then being able to make those calls during the game. Him and Coach Murphy working together on that, um, that was like a one-two punch that was just unbelievable. Some good coaches. I didn't really get to understand it at the time of like what I was around, but then you know, once you move on and you go, you you have other coaches, um, you get to understand and appreciate wow, like what these guys were teaching me was was something special. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, they were good. Yeah, so you're a disciple of Fabe too, huh? Yes, yeah. I mean, that's another great legendary coach. We gotta have Coach Fabian on the pod on this. That would be good. We gotta see Fabian. What a guy.

SPEAKER_04

Like, he is such a character. Yeah, I'm just gonna say character.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe Coach could give us his number.

unknown

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

We'll we'll put that in the background. We'll find him. We'll find him. But um, yeah, I mean, so I'm hearing a lot of Palm Springs influence here. Um, you know, one of the main things that a head coach has to do, though, when you get the job is build out that staff, man. So how's that going? Are you still looking for applicants? How what's the process look like for that?

Mentors And Learning The Craft

SPEAKER_04

Well, I'm always looking for anybody that wants to help. That's first and foremost. But um when I'm building out my staff, the one of the things that I wanted to make sure of was um, you know, in in the desert, everybody that's in this football community, we all know ball, right? We all know football to a certain extent, but it's can you teach it? I'm not just going to tell the players what to do. I want you guys to teach it, right? Right. And then not only are we teaching it, but how are we presenting ourselves as a staff and how are we mentoring these guys, not only on the field, but off the field as well, right? We want to be able to be beacons for guys in our community that they can look to and say, hey, coach is doing all the right things. I want to do all the right things too. Or whatever he's preaching to me or whatever he's telling me, I know that he lives by that, and I know that that's working and that I can do that as well. So um I'd like to, I hopefully by the end of the end of the week, uh my staff should be all complete. Okay. Oh, you're getting close then. Yeah, no, so I've I've got a bunch of guys already that um that I'm really excited about and and they're excited to be a part of it too, because um we all kind of have the same mindset of like, you know, we we have a chip on our shoulder from places that we've been, and and we want to be able to come together and and build something that we can call our own and that we can stand on on our own merit and and be able to be part of this valley.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Last time that happened, you you know, you turned into a quarterback, you went all the way. So watch out. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. Chip works out for you. Yeah. Um, speaking of other teams in the valley, so new league coming in this year, right? I'm sure you've kind of already started studying that. Um, what's your opinion on that? What do you think some of the likely outcomes are gonna be from from us all being in the same league?

SPEAKER_04

I think it um the cool thing about it, I think it gives more teams opportunity for postseason play.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um, just being able to um have teams kind of bounce from league to league, right? Um, and then it it it allows teams that you know that aren't always consistent in terms of enrollment and numbers, right? Gives them a chance to compete where they should be competing, right? Um especially for us like that. Um in 2021 when we won uh DEL and the first round, we had to go face Aquinas, who's consistently been like uh division four or five team. And very good, you know, we were it was like I think we were in like division eight or nine at the time, right? And so like it, you know, it made it kind of tough, you know, to get ready and get going for something that we kind of didn't really think was gonna be a successful run, right? And so um just being able to get to postseason play, I think, is big for for these guys. That was always my thing is I I want to be able to go outside of the valley and compete with other schools and be able to get our our name on the map. And you know, if you stay around long enough, all these other schools now are coming to our games on Friday rather than you know sitting at home ourselves.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I mean, that's it's gonna be interesting, definitely. All of us coming back together as a valley.

SPEAKER_02

I think well, we we we beat up each other every year, so we kind of get tired of you know playing each other every year, and it's so nice to get in the postseason and just see different competition, and it's it's a very fun experience, and like you said, I think it is good for the kids more opportunities.

SPEAKER_04

And I think it ultimately will will help build the um the valley as a whole in terms of of football, right? Because we do play good football out here, we do. Um, and it you know, it it doesn't always get the spotlight that it needs, but you know, all all of our teams we're always competing, like yeah, no matter who it is, we're always uh competing in postseason play. Whether it's you know, um I like to always look at Coachella because they've they've been doing a really good job of like um getting two and then being able to move on. First, second round, like consistently in their divisions, right? So um that's all we can ask for is just having the opportunity to compete in the postseason.

Hiring A Staff That Teaches

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. I think uh Coach Johnson does a good job, and that's a that's a pretty good, pretty good uh school to emulate if you're gonna try and emulate that success. We're a whole machine out there, man. And they run the run and shoot a little bit. Yeah, yeah. Um you kind of spoke to it, but so what I don't know if you've gotten to this part yet, because uh, you know, you're just getting in getting your feet wet in the in there as the head coach, but uh schedules are always kind of already set, I think, for next year. What are you some we've heard different, this is a hot topic in the coaching community because of the algorithm and because it can make you make or break you? The preseason schedule can make or break where you're seated in the playoffs. There's different philosophies about this. We've wanted to kind of pick everybody's brain and see what they're thinking in terms of scheduling due to the algorithm seeding that we see at the end of the season. So, what is what is your kind of philosophy? I know you're not really touching the schedule too much this year, but going forward, you will have a heavy hand in that. What are you kind of thinking on that? Um, so yeah, our schedule tired of payroll headaches. iPay Solutions is your local payroll and HR partner right here in the Coachella Valley. From direct deposits to compliance, we handle the details so you can focus on growing your business. iPay Solutions, local, reliable, and built for your success.

SPEAKER_02

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SPEAKER_04

Um, so yeah, our schedule is already set. Um I teach computer coding right now in high school. Really? And so, yeah, so one of the things that I do teach is um how you're able to adjust and change your algorithm based on what you see or um what you're constantly looking at or how long you watch videos for, you know, whatever it is. Um so for me, it's it's pretty simple. We can dictate our algorithm just by what we can control, right? Wins and losses. And so if we win the games that we need to win, then there shouldn't be an issue with our algorithm, right? Now, I say all that to say um our first game of the season, we play Rim of the World, who was nine and one last year and they missed the playoffs, right?

SPEAKER_00

Nine and one and they missed the playoffs? Right.

SPEAKER_04

That's the other team was like two and made it. Right. And then the the other team in their league that did make the playoffs was four and six or something like that. Right. Outrageous. So the the algorithm, I mean Burn it all down. No, right, it is crazy. But I do like that it it um I do like that it seeds all the best teams or tries to seed all the best teams together. The thing that I miss and that I'm sad about is like when I was playing, it was you knew if you were one of those top three Palm Spring, well, for us it was always Palm Springs, Palm Does of La Quinta, right? And if you stick around long enough, we're gonna play you in the playoffs, right? And that was kind of partly it from that CIF season was we played La Quinta and we lost that uh lost that game. And so it was like on our mind of like we want to see them again, like please make it around again. And it almost happened where um we made it to the finals and they were playing against Serrano, and Serrano beat them like six to three or something. Yeah, some ridiculous thing. But right, so we would have had the opportunity of having an a CIF championship that was gonna be in the valley no matter what. That'd be awesome. And that would have been insane, right? So I don't know if we'll have those types of opportunities anymore. Um, but it would be cool to be able to have opportunities of like however many teams make the playoffs, we come home with championships where whatever division that we're in.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that is the upside, is that there's more competitive balance, I guess.

SPEAKER_02

The matches are more competitive, it feels like with the new algorithm. I I'll give it that.

New League And Postseason Chances

SPEAKER_04

So I think they do uh I think the other thing that they're trying to take into consideration too, when they're at least building out those first round um matchups, is also like gate round. Right, yeah, they're gonna make some money, right? Yeah, because there's all there's a reason why you would put like maybe two private schools together or you know, teams that are close in proximity together, right? Like, even though it may not be the greatest matchup, right? It still kind of benefits in that regard.

SPEAKER_00

You're talking about that Lakita game a couple years ago. And then the banning Picelli game that we went to this year. Yeah. That was a tough one. It's good, nice to see that capitalism still rules the day at the end of the day, anyway. So the algorithm loses to capitalism at least. So that's one, I guess that's one thing that stayed the same, huh? Um, so getting to like the product on the field, you know, what can Xavier fans kind of expect come 2026? I know you said you open the room of the world. I'm gonna get my popcorn, go sit up in the stands. What am I gonna see, man? What what what's uh your vision for that?

SPEAKER_04

Um for my football team, um, we need to be able to be disciplined, you know, all the things that coaches talk about. My whole goal for for my players is is I want to care for the entire player, right? I want to make sure that they're doing things, not only being successful on the field, but being successful off the field, right? There's a standard that we need to uphold as not only um football players in this community, but young men that are gonna grow up in this community, right? Or in whatever community that they're gonna be in, right? And so for me, being a product of this valley, right, being a guy that's I I can tell my players, I was just like you. I was six years old putting on that PDL key helmet, right? I was competing in in this valley at the high school level, right? And then being able to move on and be successful in life and come back and be able to share that with them and see, like, oh, I I can do something in this valley, right? I can go out and be successful with this football and still be able to um chase my dreams, right? So for my football players, right, I want them to be um when they leave my program, have the tools and have the foundation to be better fathers, better husbands, and better men in their community, whatever community that may be.

SPEAKER_00

I love here, here. Yeah, I mean, that's what it's all about, right? It's I mean, we are in a competitive, results-oriented business, but at the end of the day, we're all here to kind of churn out some good, you know, well-respected young men and prepare them for life, you know. And that's I think that's you know, that's gonna be that's gonna ultimately help you succeed, is because you've got the right goals in place, man. So that's awesome, man. Um, so younger coaches, maybe that looking at Coach Carl and saying, hey, I want to be like Coach Carl one of these days, you know. I want to I want to be a head coach of a you know, really good varsity program. Um, what advice would you? I know you're just getting your feet wet in this game, but you've been around the game a long time. What advice would you give to somebody that wants to get into this coaching profession?

SPEAKER_04

Uh the first and foremost, you have you have to know your why, right? Like, what is the reason why you want to be uh a coach and you want to be able to give back to these players? Because at times it is a thankless job, right? Like um just like my first week, I'm there from 6:30 in the morning all the way until four or five o'clock, making sure my dudes get their lifts in and making sure that they have someone there um that is uh behind them, right? And so um I used to always tell the players, right, like I did all of these things, but I want you to take it and go past me, right? Like um, like uh with Ryder, right? We used to always I used to always joke with them, right? Like you have all of these, uh you get all these yards and all these touchdowns, right? But um, what else are you going to do with it moving forward, right? And so um for young coaches, um I want you to be able to uh understand that these players really look up to you, right? And they really take what you say to heart. And so for you to be able to pour into them and invest in them, um, that goes a long, long way, right? And for me, I I had very many coaches that were in my corner and that have helped me along the way. But there were things that I really didn't know that I wish I knew, right? Like I didn't know about the recruiting process. I don't know. Do many kids know that you have to be part of the NCAA clearinghouse to even earn a scholarship, right? Or um what are all of the other quarterbacks around the world or around the country doing to get better? Or what do I need to work on to get better, right? Like just being able to have someone that has those types of answers and being able to be around them and be able to give it back to them, right? It's like the um, like there's always this scenario of um would you would you rather take a million dollars now or go back um with the knowledge you have now, go back 10, 15 years, right? Well, for me, I have the knowledge. So instead of me going back, let me give it to someone else so that they can take and run with it and go beyond whatever I could do. Right.

Scheduling And The Playoff Algorithm

SPEAKER_00

That's good advice, man. I love that, here, here, man. Yeah. Um so eighth graders, seventh graders, maybe thinking about Xavier as a because you guys are the only private school on the DEL. Um, how can they how can they reach out to you? Is there a way to get information about the program and the school if they're maybe interested in going the Xavier route and considering that as an option? Where can they kind of look? Where can parents contact you and reach out to you and get that information?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so my my email is always open. Um it's on our school webpage as well. We have plenty plenty of information on our school website. Um the beauty about Xavier and and what drew it to me, um, just starting out as a coach and then continuing on as the head coaches, um, it has all of the built-in things that families are looking for for their um students, right? The athletics part, you know, it comes along with it, right? If you're a good athlete, you know, that's part of it, right? And we have um coaches at our school that have done all of those things as well. And so they have all of the um the knowledge that they're looking for. But I think the part that gets missed or left behind is is learning how to do the school part, right? So like for me, like in uh going into into college, right, as a true freshman coming from Palm Springs and going into college, uh I've never seen a day start out at 6 a.m. and I wasn't done until 9 p.m., right? And having practice and meetings and school all in between that, right? It can be overwhelming. And so at least for uh at Xavier, it what what is nice about our school schedule, um, it prepares them for that, right? So you're not always seeing classes one through six every single day, right? You have to have the responsibility of I have classes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and I need to make sure that if I have an assignment due on Friday that I got Monday, I don't forget about it, right? It's the same thing in in college too, right? Especially if you're going to like a major university, you could be student one out of 300 in a classroom, right? In a lecture hall, and the teacher doesn't know your name. But at least, you know, when we're at at Xavier now, because we are such a tight-knit community, you do have that relationship and you do have that kind of um safety net to learn all of those tools so that when you do move on to whatever it is that you do, whether it is being a student athlete or just being a student in college, you have all of those tools readily available for you. Right. Right. And then also, um, we do have um for four-year universities, our acceptance rate for our senior classes is top-notch.

SPEAKER_00

It's like in the 90s, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

It's like 99, almost 99% like for four-year colleges, right? So easy. Um, I mean, it speaks for itself. If you're if you're a a good athlete, right, and you're looking to be recruited. I I think it it it goes without saying that you want to be at a school that helps you learn how to do the student athlete part and and be able to be successful in college. Right.

SPEAKER_00

And I think the advantage of having a smaller student body at Xavier is that kids are not gonna get lost in the shuffle. You know, you go to these big public schools, they got 3,000, 4,000 kids. It's easy for even a talented athlete to fall through the cracks, you know, because they're not being, you know, they're not nobody's checking on their grades until it's too late. You know, that's not gonna happen at Xavier, correct?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I've seen that plenty of times where even at Palm Springs when I was playing, we'd have guys that you know they would light it up in the preseason and that first grade check comes around and shoot their ineligible.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04

So and it and it can be devastating to a team, especially if it's somebody that's super important to you to your squad, right? And um only speaking on like the number of players that I have, right? It's you know, when we lose guys, it it impacts even more, right? Because of the the numbers that we have.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I just think the probably the structure is a little bit better at Xavier for kids, especially kids that may need that extra help. You know, you guys have services and tutors and stuff like that that maybe the public schools don't have. So something to consider when making that choice, correct? Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, so well coach, we could sit here and talk to you all day, man. You know your stuff, but you know, we're we're excited for you. Thank you. We're gonna be pulling for you. We'll bring it back to you. Yeah, and preseason, we're gonna put you on the calendar, man. You gotta come tell us what you're seeing out there. And yeah, we appreciate you coming in, man. We're gonna be rooting for you. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04

I just thank you for having me, and I appreciate the opportunity. I appreciate what you guys um do by accentuating what we have in this valley because um I think it goes unnoticed a little bit what talent we have, not only from um from a football standpoint and a and a coaching uh uh ring that we have here, but also um, you know, all of these kids like this it helps big time to be able to get um people that talk about uh high school sports.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, more eyes the better. Yeah, but it's a labor of love for us. Yeah, we love the game. We love it.

SPEAKER_02

This is the same thing we used to do at the bar. Yeah, yeah, right. We just put a camera and a microphone in our face now.

SPEAKER_00

But yeah, we it's a it's a labor of love. Me and Josh love to do this, and we'd love to give you guys your props. You know, the coaching community, we're so overworked and underpaid that you know somebody got to give us a lot of things. Fascinating by it all.

SPEAKER_02

Everyone's dad's got different approaches, it's fun for me.

SPEAKER_00

But thanks for coming in, coach. We'll be uh talking soon. And if you guys found some value in that episode, you know the routine. Like, subscribe, and follow, and we'll see you next time on Desert Valley Blitz.