Buhach Colony football coach steps down after leading team to CCC championship
Kevin Navarra is stepping down as the Buhach Colony High School head football coach to become the school’s athletic director.
Navarra is taking over for former athletic director Rich Cometta, who is going back into the classroom.
Navarra had been the Thunder head coach for seven years, compiling a 45-30 record, including an 11-1 season and a Central California Conference championship in 2019.
“For me, football has been a major part of my life the past two decades,” said Navarra, who coached a total of 27 years between Atwater and Buhach Colony. “Every day started in the weight room and every school day ends in some capacity with me working with our current football team.
“Some routines I’m used to are going to be broken.”
Navarra has been part of the Buhach Colony staff since the school opened in 2001 and is only the fourth head varsity football coach in the school’s history.
“I’m going to miss competing against him,” said. Atwater coach Seneca Ybarra “I love competing against them. We’re getting better and it’s been fun for the town of Atwater.
”When I first got the job, I didn’t know what I was going to do. He gave me some good advice about being myself. He went through the same thing when he got his job. He knew he wasn’t going to be Kevin Swartwood. He had to be himself and it’s worked out for him. I always appreciated that advice.”
Navarra said one of the toughest things for him since getting the job has been letting his staff and players know about his changing role, since the school is closed due to the coronavirus.
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“It’s been unfortunate because I haven’t been able to talk face-to-face,” he said. “I’ve had to communicate vie text or a phone call or a message. That’s been one of the toughest things for me. All these years, my go-to thing has been to be up front with my staff and players when a situation comes up.”
The Thunder have a large coaching staff and three potential coaches in Jerry Dietz, Roger Johnson and Mike Bell who could be considered for the head coach job. All three have been coaching in the Thunder program for over 10 years.
Navarra is excited to take on the athletic director position.
“The athletic director position has always been my end goal,” Navarra said. “I’ve never put a clock on my coaching personally. I love that I can add my influence to other student athletes and coaches on campus.”
Navarra leaves the football program with great pride in what the Thunder have been able to accomplish.
“For me, I was here and saw the struggles we went through at the beginning,” Navarra said. “I saw us build a foundation and establish a program when Swarty was here. Our goals are always to compete for a league title and make a deep playoff run.”
“We’ve had great years, then we took some steps back and then we were competitive again. I always wanted to be competitive.”
