‘He wants to do it the right way.’ El Capitan hires new football coach
Since beginning his football coaching career in 2001, Randall Bartley has had the opportunity to learn under some of the top football coaches in the area.
Bartley has coached under Golden Valley’s Dennis Stubbs, Oakdale’s Trent Merzon and Madera South’s Scott Donegan.
Bartley hopes to use what he’s learned from his coaching stops as he takes over the El Capitan High football program. The school announced Bartley as their new head coach on Tuesday.
“I think his passion for kids and football stood out most,” said El Capitan athletic director Rodd Parker.
Bartley, 43, was the El Capitan junior varsity coach last season.
He takes over for former Gauchos coach Frank Solis, who resigned in January.
According to Parker, 12 people applied for the job and a committee interviewed three finalists the last week in January.
“(Bartley) wants to make this a winning program and he wants to do it the right way,” Parker said. “He wants to build it with quality character kids and build a winning culture.”
Bartley played for Mark Speckman at Merced High, graduating in 1994. He was later teammates at Merced College with current Blue Devils coach Bob Casey and defensive coordinator Justin Pinasco.
He started his coaching career in 2001 at Golden Valley under Stubbs. He spent two years at Oakdale with Merzon and four years with Donegan — who won a Central Section championship at Chowchilla — at Madera South.
“I feel extremely fortunate to have witnessed the way numerous different section championship coaches run their programs,” Bartley said. “The constant truths across all of the different successful programs I’ve worked in, are that you must put character first, and you must demand maximum effort at all times.”
Merzon remembers him as a very likable guy.
“Good guy, players liked him, he’s charismatic, easy to be around,” said Merzon, who’s won four Sac-Joaquin Section titles at Oakdale. “In today’s age, high school kids need to be loved a bit more. It’s important to make them feel appreciated. That’s right up his alley.”
Bartley takes over a program that has struggled since the school opened in 2013. Since the program started playing varsity games, El Capitan has compiled an 8-52 record in 6 years.
“I will never promise or predict a single victory, but I will promise the players, parents, and community at El Capitan that I will encourage these young men to be the best human beings they can be and give everything they have on the field every day,” Bartley said. “If victories come, that will be icing on the cake. Going out into the world being an honest, hard working person who has a lifelong brotherhood with their teammates, that is priceless and that is what I want for our players.”
Bartley says he plans to take portions of plays from all of his coaching stops, including Mark Speckman’s fly offense from his playing days at Merced High.
“Whatever we run, we better run it with aggression and physicality,” he said. “I want us to be known for giving everything we have for four quarters, no matter what the score is.”
Bartley, who is a social studies teacher at El Capitan, also recognized the time and effort Solis put in during his time as the Gauchos coach.
“I watched him give El Capitan football more hours and minutes than any human being on the planet over the past three seasons,” Bartley said. “That is a legacy of love and sacrifice that no one can take away.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 3:10 PM.
