Martin trying to establish a winning culture at Calabasas
Football coach spent the last seven years as an assistant at Royal High
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

Lance Martin

On paper, accepting a job to coach the Calabasas High football team might seem ill-advised.

The Coyotes were last in nearly every statistical category in the Marmonte League a season ago and failed to win a game for the fourth straight year, running the program's consecutive game losing streak to 42, the fourthlongest in state history.

First-year head coach Lance Martin, however, isn't afraid of the tough challenge he will endure, and he's confident that, in time, the Coyotes will challenge for a league title.

"The first time I met the players in the spring was in a classroom that was jampacked," Martin said. "I told them I am very happy to be their coach, and I have high expectations to move forward."

Shortly after the first meeting, the 35-year-old Martin had his players gather in the classroom once again, where he asked them a question on who they thought should start at every position on offense and defense.

The players took 10 minutes writing down their picks at each position. Once they were done, they handed in the sheets to Martin. The coach took the sheets, ripped them to shreds and deposited them into the trash can in front of the players.

"Some players were shocked, and some said they knew I was going to do that, but I was trying to make a point," Martin said. "Nothing in the past matters now. Everyone has a fair shot of starting on this team."

Martin takes over for Wayne Quigley, who resigned after last season but still teaches at Calabasas.

Prior to accepting the job with the Coyotes, Martin, a Thousand Oaks High graduate, previously coached and played at Cal Lutheran. He was also an assistant coach at Verdugo Hills High before finally serving the last seven years as an assistant coach to Gene Uebelhardt at Royal High.

"For the longest time I've wanted to be a head coach," Martin said. "You can't always choose if you are going to take over for a good team or a bad team, but I felt this was a good situation for me and my family. I'm proud to be here, and so far the athletic department has been really supportive."

While coaching at Royal, Martin saw Calabasas once a year after the Coyotes joined the Marmonte League.

"When I was at Royal the Calabasas team always looked fine on paper, but for whatever reason they just couldn't compete," Martin said.

"One of the reasons may have been that, until recently, there was no feeder (youth) program in the Calabasas area. So people trying out for the team their freshman year were playing for the first time."

Martin said he's begun to get the players in better shape by having them in the weight room more than they've been accustomed to in the past. "If we are going to do something, I want to do it the right way," Martin said. "I think the weight room is very important to help build work ethic on this team. I believe that a good work ethic in the weight room will transition nicely to the field once game time starts."

Martin said one of the toughest obstacles he will have to face as a coach is getting the players' confidence restored after the team has suffered for so long. He has dealt with this situation before at Verdugo Hills.

"At Verdugo, we lost our first five games one year, and the kids were struggling to believe that they could compete- although, based on our game film, we knew we could be better," Martin said. "We ended up winning our last five games of the year and won the league championship.

"I have to get these kids at Calabasas to believe in those same principles. They have to be well conditioned and never give up."

Winning a game early in the season could give the Coyotes the confidence they need to compete in league. Although Martin said the losing streak isn't a taboo subject, he's not going to judge the team strictly on wins and losses.

"My main goal is to get this team to play hard all the time and never give up in a game or a season," Martin said. "If we do that, then I'll be proud of them regardless if we win or lose."