Coaching change at Stone Ridge Christian brings back section championship coach
.JPG "Stone Ridge Christian head coach Arthur DeJager speaks to his team after defeating Big Valley Christian 69-0 in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII championship at Lincoln High School in Stockton, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015. Stone Ridge Christian announced DeJager is returning as the Knights head football coach.")
Stone Ridge Christian High School is bringing back a familiar face to take over the Knights football program.
The school announced on Wednesday that Art DeJager has been named the new football coach. DeJager, 65, led the Knights to back-to-back Sac-Joaquin Section championships in 2014 and 2015.
“The few years I was gone, I missed it a lot,” DeJager said. “It was a really nice break. My wife and I got to take some great trips to other parts of the world. Now I’m back in this.”
The Knights compiled a 32-17 record under DeJager from 2012 to 2015. DeJager took a team that went 0-10 in 2011 and turned the program around, winning two section championships and playing in a NorCal Championship game in 2015.
The 2015 team set a state record with 10 consecutive shutouts.
“Everyone is super excited,” said Stone Ridge Christian Head of School Mike Henjum. “Art’s record speaks for itself during his time previously at Stone Ridge Christian. We’re excited to have him back.”
DeJager takes over for former SRC coach Mark Gutierrez, who was recently fired by the school, despite leading the Knights to a 22-10 record during his three years as head coach.
“I’m not happy about the situation, but I’m not looking to throw anybody under the bus,” Gutierrez said. “I felt I did good there. We went 22-10 during my three years there. It just caught me off guard.”
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Gutierrez said he enjoyed his time at SRC.
“It was great,” he said. “I love my time there. I loved the coaches and players. It was a great learning experience. I have nothing bad to say about my three years there.”
However, his departure was a bit awkward. Gutierrez said he wasn’t given a reason why he was let go when he was called into Henjum’s office on Feb. 13. He was told they needed to go in a different direction.
Henjum didn’t want to get into reasons why the decision was made, only saying, “Mark did a great job.”
“At this point, we had an opening and Art was ready to come back,” Henjum said. “We made the move. We feel he’s the best guy for the job.”
DeJager served as the Knights junior varsity coach last year and has been running the offseason conditioning program.
“I kind of thought I’d stay with it, coaching junior varsity, but then the opportunity came to take over the varsity program,” DeJager said. “I mulled it over for a couple days and then I took the job.”
The Knights’ success during DeJager’s previous stint was due in large part to a dominant offensive line. He said that will be a main focus again.
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“First and foremost if you don’t get the job done up front you won’t be very good,” DeJager said. “I don’t get the dudes that the big schools get so to be successful you have to build tough teams.”
DeJager said he’ll be busy the next few weeks getting organized with the schedule and putting together a coaching staff, which likely will include some of his close family members.
DeJager said Stone Ridge Christian has been a special place for him.
“I grew up playing football at a private school so Christian schools have always had a special place in my heart,” he said. “Stone Ridge Christian is a small school and our players get to play a lot of football because we’re thin on numbers. It’s great to take a small group and build something out of that.”
