James Burns: Messina will motivate

The last time we saw Jake Messina, the football coach, he was bouncing around a locker room as if he were made of rubber, telling a story with his words.

And his hands.

And his eyes.

And his emotions.

He spoke and stepped emphatically, like Bobby Knight with a point.

Back then, in the fall of 2008, Messina was the spirited defensive coordinator for Merced High. His role, however, wasn't confined to diagramming defenses or breaking apart offenses.

He was also the team's unofficial hype man. A master motivator.

"That was kind of my role," Messina said. "The kids looked to me for that. Ever since I was a player, that's been my role. In high school, I was the guy that got everybody to rally, get excited about things."

So in his last public appearance as a football coach, there was Messina, parading about the Merced College locker room minutes before a playoff game against Stockton St. Mary's, sharing the story of the biblical figure Samson.

He grabbed at the air to his left and right as if he were grabbing pillars, like Samson, and shook them.

His cheeks wobbled. His knuckles went white. His eyes could have pierced Kevlar.

He shook them until he had every last player's attention. And as slabs of stone fell down around Samson, fulfilling one hero's quest, Messina begged Merced to do the same.

Bring the house down on St. Mary's, he said.

Ultimately, it didn't happen. Merced lost 35-24 to a team that would eventually play for a state championship. Looking back, Messina's words were about the only part that went right that night.

Everyone inside that locker room -- players, coaches, trainers and one fly-on-the-wall scribe -- left those tight quarters ready to run through walls, feeling like Godzilla, two sizes bigger than they actually were.

"He was the best at that kind of stuff. I remember during football season, when he wasn't even coaching, we went up to him and said, 'Hey, Coach, we need you to give us a speech. We need something,' " Merced senior Marques Barron said.

"It really hits you -- his words. There's no one better at it."

After a year's hiatus, after disappearing off the football grid, Messina is back to his old tricks.

People are excited.

Basketball gyms from Turlock to Atwater were abuzz with Wednesday's news. Did ya hear?

After what Golden Valley principal Craig Chavez and the Merced Union High Schools District said was a "rigorous" search, Messina was named the school's football coach.

In hiring Messina, Golden Valley and MUHSD made the wisest business move available to them.

Because he's already teaching in the district -- Messina stepped down as a coach at Merced, not a teacher -- theoretically, a new position won't have to be created for the Social Studies teacher.

Just a classroom.

That remains an entirely separate issue full of potential snags and snares, but all that matters now is Golden Valley got its man.

Messina's pedigree and promise are undeniable.

He displays all the trappings of the area's next uber coach -- and there have been a lot of them.

He spent five years apprenticing under Earl Hansen of Palo Alto High, the school that produced Stanford coach and former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh.

His defenses at Merced were among the very best in the Valley -- a fearsome bunch whose unbridled speed was only matched by the ferocity of their hits. And under head coach Rob Scheidt, Messina experienced championship-level football.

The thought among committee members is that Messina can recreate those experiences; he can foster that kind of atmosphere.

Will he? That's the million-dollar question.

But like Samson, Messina isn't one to be counted out or overlooked. And like Samson, he draws his strength from an unusual source.

Not his hair -- Messina keeps his brown 'do high and tight -- but his spirit and charm.

Former players say they've never had a coach move them or make them believe quite like Messina.

And if Golden Valley needs anything right now, it's a swig of Messina's Kool-aid concoction -- confidence plus swagger.

Just 9-21 under Jon Betschart, Golden Valley needs to believe it can shake the pillars of the CCC, bring down the house and revel in a hero's conquest.

It needs some old-school grit to go along with all that young talent.

"I think all things being equal, in other words you're coaching well, the team's well prepared and ready to go, it's pretty important," Messina said.

"You're seeing that these kids want to be inspired. They want to feel like they can believe in the person in the leadership role."

Well, GV, you got your man. He ain't Samson, in a literal sense. But that shouldn't stop you from believing he is.

"If nothing else, he'll make Golden Valley feel like it can't lose. Like it can win every game it's in," Barron said. "That's how I felt."

And that's saying a lot.

James Burns is sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached at jburns@mercedsun-star.com.