Golden Valley coach resigns

Jake Messina has stepped down as the Golden Valley head football coach.

Messina announced his resignation on Friday after two years at the school.

"While I feel that the program has made great strides in many areas, and touched many people, I feel that a change in leadership is needed in order for the program to go forward," Messina said. "Our administration has accepted my resignation and I thank them for the opportunities afforded to me during my tenure."

The Cougars compiled a 7-13 record during Messina's two years.

Messina cited two main issues that led to his resignation.

The first was the lack of on-campus coaches at Golden Valley. Messina, offensive coordinator Nelson Gifford and linebacker coach Chopper Mello are the only three on-campus coaches on staff.

"Obviously the lack of on-campus coaches is an issue that has been here for a long time," Messina said. "It was an issue with (former coaches) Dennis (Stubbs) and (Jon) Betschart. It isn't anyone's fault, but it's been allowed to stay the way it is."

The second issue was Messina's teaching schedule. He felt the amount of time spent in the classroom was hindering his ability to lead the football program.

Messina brought these issues up in an e-mail he sent to district administators after Golden Valley's 52-10 loss to Pitman in early October. Messina said he basically informed the administrators if the issues weren't addressed he would be forced to resign at the end of the year.

Messina was initially told by the Merced High School Unified District administrators his resignation would take effect on Oct. 10 during a Cougars practice. However, a day later Messina was allowed to finish out the season.

"In the middle of the season, I had concerns that I directed toward administration and obviously those issues played a role in ultimately what happened."

Golden Valley actually played its best after the midseason chaos.

"It was a little weird, but we were able to adjust and recover," said Gifford, who was brought to GV this year to install a spread offense.

"Jake had to take care of what he had to take care of, but we were happy he was able to come back with us. This stuff basically went down midseason so the kids have had time to process it. They're not happy about it, but the kids have seen the results."

Messina leaves a program he feels he had going in the right direction.

"If you look at the two years, the first year we went 5-5 and we were playing for a playoff spot in our last game," he said.

"In the second year we put in a new offense and scored a ton of points. Defensively we were really young, but we still went out and nearly beat Turlock and Merced. That's something our school hasn't done in a long time.

"I think we were taking the right steps to putting a blue print to do it the right way."

Golden Valley principal Costa Aguilar said the school's search for a new coach will begin soon.

"It really depends on job openings on campus," Aguilar said. "We have to figure out what we can and can't do. Hopefully we'll be able to sit down before Christmas and come up with a plan."

Shawn Jansen is a Sun-Star sports reporter. He can be reached at 385-2462 or sjansen@mercedsun-star.com.