Costa Mesa football turns to David Gutierrez to turn things around

Costa Mesa High has turned to David Gutierrez to turn its struggling football program around. A big reason why is because he helped do the same at Santa Ana.

Principal Jacob Haley said the Mustangs hired Gutierrez as their football coach on Friday. Gutierrez, Santa Ana’s defensive coordinator, replaces Glen Fisher, who stepped down in January after going a combined 9-21 the past three seasons.

Athletic director Sharon Uhl said the Mustangs liked Gutierrez because he was “coming from a school that is very similar” to Costa Mesa and was able turn a winless Santa Ana team in 2013 into a near perfect team in 2016. The Costa Mesa position is Gutierrez’s first as a high school head coach. He’s 32.

“He’s also just a likable guy,” said Uhl, adding that Gutierrez will be a walk-on coach as there is no opening at Costa Mesa for a physical education teacher. “I think the kids are just going to really take to him because he’s very passionate about what he’s doing, just real eager.”

Gutierrez, who teaches PE at Fountain Valley High, had been a part of a successful Santa Ana program the last four years.

Gutierrez served under coach Charlie TeGantvoort, and in 2016, the Saints finished 13-1 and reached the CIF Southern Section Division 13 championship game. The section finals appearance marked the Saints’ first in 30 years.

TeGantvoort said Gutierrez played an instrumental role in Santa Ana’s transformation. TeGantvoort’s first season in charge of the Saints was in 2014, and the year before they had gone 0-10. In their first year together, TeGantvoort and Gutierrez led the Saints to the postseason. Santa Ana has made the playoffs the last four years.

During the same four-year stretch, Costa Mesa has failed to qualify for the postseason. Last year, Costa Mesa finished 3-7 overall and dead last in the Orange Coast League. Fisher went 2-13 in league during his three seasons, finishing fifth once and last twice.

Gutierrez said he’s up for the challenge at Costa Mesa.

“I had been looking for a head coaching position … and I thought Costa Mesa was a good fit as far as the community and just the facilities,” Gutierrez said. “They have everything that’s needed to create a great program there. I just think maybe the right formula hasn’t been set yet, so I felt that with the group of kids that we worked with at Santa Ana and my experience [as an assistant from 2009 to 2013] over at Fountain Valley, [Costa Mesa] was … a school that maybe had a need for my type of support.”

Uhl said the other finalist for the Costa Mesa job was Chris Anderson, a former assistant under-then Newport Harbor coach Jeff Brinkley.

Gutierrez takes over a program that has been low in numbers. The Mustangs fielded two teams last year, one on varsity and the other on the freshman level, totaling around 50 players, Uhl said. The goal for Gutierrez is to have three levels, including a junior varsity team, at Costa Mesa.

Gutierrez and TeGantvoort grew the Santa Ana program, which had about a dozen players in the spring before the 2014 season, to almost 100 players, despite the program going 1-49 the previous five seasons. Helping Santa Ana’s cause was its enrollment. Santa Ana has 2,923 students, compared to Costa Mesa’s 1,196.

“Some of these numbers are all relative,” Gutierrez said. “It just depends on how much interest you have in football. In Santa Ana, we picked up kids that had never played football in their lives before, and it was great, because we were able to really develop them from ninth through 12th [grade]. I’m looking forward to meeting the kids [next week] and seeing what we can do with the program at Costa Mesa.”

In Gutierrez’s last season at Santa Ana, the Saints went 11-2 overall and 5-0 in the Golden West League, claiming their second straight undefeated league title. Santa Ana also advanced to the Division 12 semifinals.

Even with the move to Costa Mesa, Gutierrez will get to coach again on the same field with TeGantvoort. The Saints are moving to the Orange Coast League in 2018, and they will open league play with the Mustangs.

“I wish him luck every week, except Week 6,” said TeGantvoort, referring to the week the Saints and Mustangs play. “That will be a cool game.

“This is the next chapter in his life. [I’m] very happy for him.”

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