Buhach Colony stays within Thunder family in hiring new football coach
Buhach Colony High School didn’t have to look far to find its next head football coach.
The school announced Tuesday that Jerry Dietz will become the fifth football coach in program history. Dietz takes over for Kevin Navarra, who resigned near the end of March to take over as the school’s athletic director.
Dietz, 48, served as offensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and the team’s strength and conditioning coach for Navarra during the past seven years.
“I’m excited to keep the program going in the same direction,” said Dietz, who is also a physical education teacher at Buhach Colony.
Dietz brings plenty of experience to his new role.
After graduating from Atwater High in 1990, Dietz returned to Atwater as a coach in 1993. He served many roles, including head freshman and junior varsity coach.
Dietz moved over to Buhach Colony when the school opened in 2001. He worked under John Denno, Scott Wine, Kevin Swartwood and Navarra.
“One of those things I learned from all those guys, even going back to (Mike) Burrows and (George) Sziraki at Atwater, is be who I am,” Dietz said. “I can’t try to be the other coaches in the past. They’ve all contributed to who I am today somehow.”
Under Swartwood and Navarra the past 10 years, Buhach Colony compiled a 79-35 record. The Thunder went 12-1 last season, winning a Central California Conference championship along the way.
Dietz says he’s excited to put his stamp on the program, but don’t expect major changes under his leadership.
“Continuity for any program is a hallmark of success,” said Swartwood, who is now the principal at Golden Valley High. “There’s a lot of examples of that and Rob Scheidt is one of those at Merced. When you have coaches giving the same message day after day on offense, defense and special teams, the message is consistent.
“Where Kevin Navarra left off, Jerry Dietz can take over. That’s a big deal.”
Swartwood called Dietz one of the most organized and efficient coaches he’s ever worked with.
“He took over as our offensive coordinator late in my tenure,” Swartwood said. “I’m pretty picky as far as my offensive philosophy. It says a lot about how much I trusted Jerry to turn that over to him.”
Dietz says the biggest changes to his responsibilities will be budgeting and fundraising.
“This situation with the coronavirus is tough,” Dietz said. “We had a golf fundraiser scheduled for May that we can’t do. Navarra still being on campus will be a big plus for me.”
Navarra felt Dietz was the logical choice to take over the program since he’s been coaching in the program since the school opened.
“I think one of the things that makes Jerry a good coach is accountability,” Navarra said. “He’s going to hold players and coaches to high standards. His expectations start in the weight room and that transitions to little things.
“There are a lot of schemes out there. Obviously we run the fly and the 3-4 defense, but we hang our hat on our technique, the details. It’s how we teach individuals to run our plays, focusing on their first step, angles and positioning. That carries over to all three phases of the game.”
