Mesa adds to football staff

Barry Faulkner

Costa Mesa High football coach Dave Perkins announced Tuesday that

former Mustangs head coach Tom Baldwin and former All-Pro San

Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Jesse Sapolu have joined the

program as assistant coaches.

Baldwin, who has been an assistant at several schools, including

Corona del Mar and Costa Mesa, after guiding the Mustangs as head

coach for eight seasons (1984-91), will work with the offensive line

and outside linebackers,” Perkins said. Baldwin was defensive

coordinator at Calvary Chapel High last season.

“Tom told me, ‘Hey, I’m a Mustang,’ ” Perkins said. “It’s great to

have him. When I first got the job (before the 2001 season), I told

Tom that whenever he felt comfortable, we’d sit down and talk about

him helping out. I think he feels real good about the direction the

program is headed and he wants to be a part of it.”

Sapolu, whose son, Luke, was a first-team All-Golden West League

and All-Newport-Mesa center for the Mustangs last fall, after

transferring from Moreno Valley, will work with the offensive and

defensive lines and also head the offseason weight-training program.

“His expertise and his presence will be a real positive,” Perkins

said of Sapolu, who emphasizes free weights and the use of the squat,

bench press, dead lift and power clean.

“He has an aura around him the kids can really respect,” Perkins

said.

Perkins also announced the Mustangs will scrimmage Tustin High, as

well as Cabrillo of Long Beach, in preparation for their 2003 opener.

This is a significant upgrade over last season, when the Mustangs had

a three-way scrimmage against Magnolia and La Quinta.

The Mustangs have also replaced Chaminade with Huntington Beach in

Week 2, the second of their four nonleague games.

Perkins said the program will be shifting existing assistant

coaches to fill the void left by the pending retirement of longtime

freshman coach John Carney and former freshman assistant Kirk

Bauermeister, who is now an assistant principal at the school.