Culture

Monday Morning Lights: South Bay coach takes page out of ‘Coach Prime’s’ playbook


Monta Vista head coach Ceazar Agront looks on against Gunn High School in the 1st half at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group)
Monta Vista head coach Ceazar Agront is embracing the “Coach Prime” aesthetic. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group) 

Monta Vista didn’t have an abundance of fun on Friday night. The Matadors suffered their first loss of the season, a 28-0 home defeat at the hands of Gunn. 

But Agront kept things in perspective after the game. Monta Vista is still 3-1 with plenty of opportunities ahead to make noise in the wide-open Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division.

“Over here, we’re not known for being a football school,” he said. “These kids have been super committed. We’re super young. All our playmakers are juniors and stuff like that. So they needed to get more learning opportunities. And I feel like having learning opportunities helps our demographic a little bit more.

“They sometimes need to know what’s the next level and how to get there through repetition. And sometimes that comes with failure, and not letting failure linger, but using that to learn and grow. So I honestly think that it’s going to be better next week.”

Christian Babcock

RIORDAN: QB COMMITS TO VANDERBILT

Archbishop Riordan has had an up-and-down start to the 2024 season, but one of its players shared some positive personal news on Saturday.

Junior quarterback Mike Mitchell Jr. announced on Twitter that he had committed to Vanderbilt. He led the West Catholic Athletic League in touchdown passes last season with 31. 

Vanderbilt is 2-2 this season, with the only losses being by four points at Georgia State and a 30-27 defeat at No. 7 Missouri in overtime on Saturday. Senior quarterback Diego Pavia has been one of the most exciting players in the nation. 

Mitchell Jr., a three-star prospect according to 247Sports, was named a preseason all-Bay Area News Group

Welcome back to Monday Morning Lights, our weekly feature that sheds more light on the high school football weekend and peeks ahead to the new week. If you haven’t already, please subscribe. Your contributions keep us going.

MONTA VISTA: AGRONT’S STYLE IS PRIMETIME

Monta Vista coach Ceazar Agront wouldn’t typically be confused with Deion Sanders. But he does have at least one thing in common with the man widely known today as “Coach Prime.”

Agront can be seen sporting a pair of Sanders’ custom Blenders sunglasses on the sideline during the Matadors’ games. It’s a fashion choice that’s unique in the football world, to say the least.

“These guys buy me these Prime glasses, this and that,” Agront said. “So it’s pretty cool. I got like all of them. So I’m like, ‘Oh, man, am I gonna get another one? Is there another one that dropped or something?’ So it’s super funny. A couple of my guys, a couple of my assistant coaches, will be like, ‘Hey, here you go. Get your stuff on, get your strut on.’”

Agront sees the sunglasses as a natural extension of his program-building philosophy. At a school without a long track record of football success, he tries to make the game enjoyable for his players.

“It’s cool, man. I mean, we have fun with it,” Agront said. “I try to keep telling everyone, it’s all about having fun. Ever since I’ve been here, I’ll always wear sunglasses. These lights, you know? But I’m like, ‘Hey, might as well look good while you do it.’ Like coach Prime said, ‘If you look good, you do good, right?’”

Monta Vista head coach Ceazar Agront is embracing the “Coach Prime” aesthetic. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group) 

Monta Vista didn’t have an abundance of fun on Friday night. The Matadors suffered their first loss of the season, a 28-0 home defeat at the hands of Gunn. 

But Agront kept things in perspective after the game. Monta Vista is still 3-1 with plenty of opportunities ahead to make noise in the wide-open Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division.

“Over here, we’re not known for being a football school,” he said. “These kids have been super committed. We’re super young. All our playmakers are juniors and stuff like that. So they needed to get more learning opportunities. And I feel like having learning opportunities helps our demographic a little bit more.

“They sometimes need to know what’s the next level and how to get there through repetition. And sometimes that comes with failure, and not letting failure linger, but using that to learn and grow. So I honestly think that it’s going to be better next week.”

– Christian Babcock

RIORDAN: QB COMMITS TO VANDERBILT

Archbishop Riordan has had an up-and-down start to the 2024 season, but one of its players shared some positive personal news on Saturday.

Junior quarterback Mike Mitchell Jr. announced on Twitter that he had committed to Vanderbilt. He led the West Catholic Athletic League in touchdown passes last season with 31. 

Vanderbilt is 2-2 this season, with the only …read more

Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment

      

(Visited 22 times, 5 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *