After former head football coach Steve Matos’s dismissal in January, the school this spring named longtime assistant football coach Archie Ljepava as the Falcons new head coach.

After the district posted a job listing on Ed-join, a well-known educational job recruiting site, Ljepava, who also works as a campus supervisor, decided to apply. After a rigorous interview process with a panel consisting of parents and administrators, he was hired for the job in March.

“I felt that it was my duty to apply to [maintain] some normalcy for the players. I wanted to keep carrying on what we already have built,” Ljepava said.

Though Ljepava has experience with the game and working with the players, there will still be a steep learning curve. Ljepava will now be the  head coach for varsity and responsible for the entire program, which will require a lot of logistical planning, from training to fundraising efforts.

Regarding training sessions for the upcoming season, Ljepava will focus on teaching players — who usually join as freshman— the basics of the game: the correct stance, proper footwork and most importantly, player safety. Players will be taught techniques for blocking and  keeping their head out of tackles. 

“The challenge is going to be the aggressive nature of the game,” Ljepava said. “We’ve been told our entire lives that we shouldn’t be aggressive, but when you get on the football field, you have to be aggressive.”

Junior wide receiver and free safety Charlie Arman called Matos’ departure as “out of the blue.” Many parents and players were unhappy with his dismissal, and had started a petition in January to bring Matos back. Those efforts didn’t result in a change and players seem to have moved on.

“We’re really glad that Archie [Ljepava] stepped up,” Arman said. “He cares about us and I think he’s the perfect guy to take the job.”

Because Ljepava and Matos have similar coaching styles, Arman said the team has adjusted well to the change. In preparation for the fall, the team has been implementing new strategies for their offensive and conditioning in training, with players often lifting weights at 7 a.m. every Monday to Thursday. Ultimately, Ljepava hopes to teach life skills and lessons that the players can carry with them through football.

“A lot of the skills that I have in life now were learned through football,” Ljepava said. “I want to give back to the kids and teach them the things that were so beneficial to me.”

The staff, along with Ljepava, for the next season will include assistant head coach Rick Ellis, JV head coach Will Turpin, wide receiver coach Jon Cossey, running back coach Dion Mejia, line coaches Brian Dodges, Bryan Raiche and Allie Liddle, and principal Greg Louie, who will coach players in the summertime.

“Coach Llepava really cares about the players and the program,” Louie said. “As you can tell with him as campus supervisor, he loves the school.”