Mesa appoints coach

Rick Devereux

Jay Johnson has been named the Costa Mesa High varsity football

coach. Johnson has been a football coach for 14 years, most recently

as the head coach at Fairmont Prep in the San Joaquin League for the

past two years where he guided the Huskies to a 5-14 record.

“He has a good football background,” assistant principal Kirk

Bauermeister said. “But even more important is we were impressed with

his character and the type of person he is.”

Johnson was chosen over about a dozen candidates to take over a

squad that was 2-8 and 2-4 in the Golden West League.

Johnson has been a defensive and offensive coordinator in his 14

years of coaching. He said he would like to employ a spread offense

and a four down linemen and three linebackers on defense for the

Mustangs. Mesa ran the wing-T offense and a blitzing four-four

defense last year under Tom Baldwin.

“I don’t like to blitz too much on defense because I think you get

burned for big plays,” Johnson said. “We will try to be fundamentally

sound on defense.”

The changes in strategy are already being accepted by the players.

“His defensive schemes with the four-three and two safeties sounds

good,” junior cornerback Tony Krikorian said. “Last year we would

send eight guys [on a blitz]. The changes will be good and bad. Bad

because we were able to get a lot of sacks and quarterback pressures

last year, but good because [the blitzes] left the two cornerbacks

and the safety alone on an island.”

Krikorian was one of a handful of returning football players that

were involved in the interview process.

“It was good because it allowed me to talk to him first hand,”

Krikorian said. “That was good because the players are the ones that

are going to have to be under him.”

It also gave Johnson insight on some of the players he will be

coaching.

“I’m not used to being interviewed by players, so it was

interesting,” he said. “I was very impressed with the players I met.

They seemed very excited about the upcoming season.”

Johnson worked with Baldwin when the two were at Calvary Chapel

and said he followed Mesa’s results this year. He said he did not

know the exact reasons why the Mustangs finished with the record they

did, but said there were many reasons he is excited about taking the

job.

“No. 1 is the number of athletes they have at that school,” he

said. “The facilities they have are great. They play their home games

at [Orange Coast College], which is fantastic. The support the team

gets from the community is awesome. The administration, the

[Associated Student Body], the boosters -- they are all very

supportive.”

Johnson is finishing his credential program and hopes to be an

on-campus coach teaching health science in the fall.

He said the biggest difference between Fairmont Prep and Costa Mea

will be participation.

“Fairmont is very tough on academics so it is hard to get enough

guys to try out for the team,” he said.

The Huskies had 24 players on their roster last year. Mesa had

close to 60. But names on a roster didn’t always equal bodies

participating.

“I think last year we didn’t have much discipline,” Krikorian

said. “All of the starters would be at practice, but a lot of the

second team guys and guys on scout team wouldn’t show up.”

Krikorian said Johnson made a good impression with the players on

the interviewing panel.

“I’m hoping it will be a good year,” Krikorian said. “Our guys

seem ready to work for him. I liked him a lot. He seemed like he

wanted to instill good team chemistry.”

The administration’s goals for Johnson, the third coach in three

years for Costa Mesa, are benevolent.

“We want him to be a good leader and crank out good young men,”

Bauermeister said.