UCLA ’05 and Gunderson ’01 Alum Jason Harrison – Grizzlies Head Football Coach | GSF Weekly 4/24/24

©2024 GetSportsFocus

00:00 – Intro

03:39 – Meet Coach Jason Harrison

05:45 – Gunderson Back in the Days

08:00 – Old School 7v7

09:25 – Coach Harrison’s Recruiting Journey

10:30 – Camp Exposure = 100+ D1 Offers No Hudl, No YouTube, No Social Media

16:00 – College Life

18:00 – First Career Major Injury and Bouncing Back

21:51 – Pro-Tryouts

25:30 – Moving On

27:00 – Coaching

28:30 – Becoming the Head Coach

30:50 – The Process

33:00 – Challenges of Developing a Solid Public School Football Program

35:35 – Public School All the Way, What Matters Most

36:50 – Working from Average to Elite

39:30 – Something’s goin’ on outside

40:30 – Spotting Talent

46:00 – Super Team #7 Champion of Champions

49:30 – GSF Senior All-Star Experience

1:03:00 – For Love of the Game

1:05:20 – Coach Harrison’s Advise to Young Jason Harrison

1:07:32 – Motivation

1:09:10 – Thank You

1:10:39 – Ultimate Goal

1:13:11 – Moving On to the Next Level

#getsportsfocus #gsfweekly #GundersonGrizzlies

welcome to get Sports Focus this is GSF
weekly we might as well do this as a GSF
daily been been busy this
week Parker three kicked it off last
Saturday when we uh when we talk to him
um anyways what’s up Coach
Andrew not much how we doing doing good
see the big news with Reggie Bush
congrats Reggie Bush congrats to our guy
Reggie Bush Actually I don’t even know
Reggie Bush what’s going on with Reggie
Bush fin got his he got his Heisman back
oh he did wow nice okay we got guy yep
yep that was uh those were definitely
golden
years yeah but that kind of kicked off
you know what is now happening now yes
that was like the St
I think what we’re supposed to I think
we’re supposed to talk about that a
little bit today so let’s dive right
back into it you know was cool is uh
before we get into that I I do want to
kind of intro this out last night during
my son’s soccer practice at Gunderson
High School I was able to sit down for
almost two hours with our very and Coach
Harrison uh Jason Harrison the head
football coach at uh gun in high school
he we we got through a lot of stuff
yesterday and it was really good to uh
have him tell his story about you know
his upbringing his his uh youth in high
school days as a football player as an
athlete here in the Bay Area South Bay
in particular and uh yeah I think you
guys are going to like this piece so
we’re going to roll that right now for
you guys just make sure
you I mean you could listen to it or you
can stare and look at coach Harrison’s
very beautiful looking
face no it turned out really well so I I
was really uh happy with the
conversation and you know like we always
do this without notes and kind of like
we’re kind of all over the place
sometimes but this was like pretty cool
because I know coach Harrison I’ve
gotten to know coach Harrison we we
we’ve all gotten to know each other and
um hearing his his actual story for the
first time was really
like it it was great to finally fill in
the blanks and I think his players are
going to enjoy the piece the parents and
there’s a lot of messages in that one
hour and 13 minute
talk
so shout out to coach Harrison for
sitting
down and uh telling his story The get
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the move right here we got we got coach
Harrison we just did parle last uh over
the weekend now I got coach Harrison
right here all right coach we’ve been
wanting to do this with you for a long
time and here we are we’re finally here
yes sir we’re in your gym we’re at
Gunderson High School San Jose
California tell me we’ll start with your
background coach tell us about yourself
and um how you ended up
here coach Jason Harrison um born and
raised in San Jose I went came to
Gunnerson um had a really successful
High School career and I’m getting a
scholarship to UCLA play running back uh
went to
UCLA tore my knee returning a kick
uh kind of halted my my my playing
career a little bit um once I was done
played overseas in Europe hinki Finland
2009 really good
experience uh came back started
training um and then I just took off
from there um I got to my first coaching
job was actually at Pioneer
2011 uh my little brother’s senior year
and we actually
made it to CCS championship game versus
Las gados remember it like it was
yesterday we were beating him 14 to
seven and halftime that came back to
beat us
2814 so um and then and then uh three
years later my
last game at Pioneer we played Sarah in
the open Division and that was that was
rough and they beat us you know 48
to7 um took a couple years off first
year at Gunnerson was in 2019 so I’ve
been here ever since and this will be my
fourth year as the head coach so when
you were come when you were going to
school here what was it like like how is
it different now so when I was in Middle
School I went to John M middle school so
when I was in Middle School um Gunderson
was one of the top schools in this you
know this area with you know Oak Grove
and
Leland um so my eighth grade year I go
to the Gunnerson Denmar game CCS
championship game um Gunderson loses 13
to 12 and so I already knew what I was
getting myself into coming to a program
like this uh we had you know pedigree we
had we had coaches we had athletes and
that were getting out every year so My
First Year here uh I looked up to all
the varsity guys and I was intimidated
by The Varsity guys um and then
uh I watched them play I think we they
they lost o Grove they lost to to to
Leland to Richard Tilman Pat tilman’s
brother you know rest in peace to to Pat
Tilman um the greats at o Grove you know
Andre Carter Marcus
Reese uh you
have uh deshaan Crockett and then uh one
of my friends Jamar Julian they were
they were really tough really tough and
um my sophomore year moved up to Varsity
and I played you know three years on
Varsity but you know we had athletes all
over all the sports we were talented and
then uh just throughout the years you
know the talent you know dropped a
little bit you know people families
moving out cost of living is a little
you know a little crazy out here so they
you know moved out to different places
uh and so what I’m trying to do is I’m
trying to you know get the tradition
back get get the get the love for sports
back here at Gunner Center and uh you
know I’m I’m still taking steps in the
right direction for sure well I know one
of the things that you’ve done in the
last couple of years is um get the guys
involved in the offseason training like
I said you’re a trainer but you’ve also
kind of formed your own seven on seven
team with the
boys
um was that something that you did back
then or what was seven on seven back
when you were when you were a player
versus now
yeah it was just part of the summer
regimen we we’d have seven tournaments
here back in the grass or we’d go to you
know Stanford have seven on S we go to
San Jose State and do seven on S we’ll
go out to Mel pedus and do seven on
seven and that’s what it was it was for
the the high school team you know uh
specifically for the high school it
wasn’t
for uh like like we do like you do you
get you know 7 OR7
designed seven on seven teams out there
and what what I wanted to do is get
Gunderson kids out there with me it’s my
offense that I’m running you know my
defense that we’re running and get out
there and get the guys stay active and
just trying to remember the plays and
it’s improving especially for my
quarterback Andrew uh his offense our
offense dial in make the right read make
the right throw and and and it’s been
pretty pretty pretty fun and successful
the last two two seasons yeah I like
Andrew i’ I’ve seen him grow and Andrew
we’re expecting a lot from you this year
oh yeah oh yeah he’s going to be a
junior or a senior he’s gonna be a
junior wow so sophomore yeah and there’s
no one I yell at more than
Andrew it’s all good it’s all love love
um now rewind it back to when you were a
high schooler here talk about I think
one of the most interesting things that
we could talk about is how you ended up
getting recruited how did that whole
thing come about okay so it started at I
want to say sax state camp my sophomore
year and back then the whole team would
go to camps and so we did a whole team
sax state camp um and so and that was
really fun we get out there going
against teams from Sacramento area
Nevada Reno teams and you know we out
there training competing get to know get
to know one the players and coaches uh
and then we go at it you know King of
the Hill drill let’s go four plays you
don’t get you don’t score you’re
out uh winning team stays on and so
that’s what we did and Sack state was
actually the first school to giving me a
scholarship my sophomore year um and
after that I I took off you know I was a
sophomore in Varsity played running back
played slot played free safety played
corner so uh you know my coach coach
balding asked a lot of me and I you know
I I did I did my thing and uh I got
recognized after that after my sophomore
year went to the Nike Camp I believe at
Stanford and I did really well
especially the 101s with the linebackers
they couldn’t cover
me and so going in my junior year you
know I end up having 1500 yards
rushing uh you know in the A- League you
know playing against Valley Christian
Oak grov Leland Lee you know all the top
schools you know during that time uh
going to Nike Camp again and then into
my senior year uh ended up with 1,00
yards rushing you know so capped off my
my uh football career and was able to
receive
numerous offers probably over 100 D1
offers so you know it’s that’s pretty
cool and pretty accomplish did you save
those letters coach I have them
somewhere I got him somewhere he’s got a
shoe box full yeah no that must have
been crazy um so when you say back in
the days what year are we talking about
so I graduated 2001 so I graduate high
school 2001 so 98 99 2000 sophomore
junior senior seasons is a um and that’s
when that’s when my time here at
Gunderson that’s about the time when the
internet was kind of
like starting to come out
right I think yeah yeah we had pagers
had a pager back then hey you
know just dated myself
4377 no I I think it’s great because I
know a lot of kids are are gonna be
interested in
uh uh like how the process was back in
the days versus now and hopefully by the
time we end this they’ll realize how
spoiled they are yeah right right right
um so you get you got recruited from
being in person at the camps MH
[Music]
and there was no YouTube back then right
right no YouTube it was it VHS or Y how
did it how how did you get your stuff
out there
well uh like I said man it was it was
just
VHS in iners ball out and then at the
camps they uh had all our stats down and
they put that down in a database so all
the recruit all the Scouts can look at
the database and see check numbers out
um and I’m I’m pretty sure I was on a
few lists and they would check to see oh
okay he ran a 44 all right we got to go
Circle his name let’s make sure we catch
a game and so they would reach out to
our coach hey we’re going to end up hey
me let’s meet up want to watch some film
on on Harrison and then you know tell us
about him and let’s let’s watch him play
so that’s what it was you know my senior
year every game there was at least three
uh Scouts there so nice it was it was
packed uh the biggest game the biggest
game I I think it was the prospect game
and I had about 15 Scouts there and they
come up to me after the uh before the
game starts like Harrison we watching
you and I’m like oh man so I a lot of
pressure I actually ended up having a
big game I scored seven touchdowns so
that was that was a game a great game
for them to come to nice nice wow so
it’s it’s kind of like it’s it’s not
that much different except for the fact
that you know nowadays they probably
would have just requested a hle film or
not but there’s always something more
special about being on location watching
your prospect right
right you get you get full scope you can
see how they act on the sideline you can
see how they they’re acting with their
teammates you know you get you get the
full Vibe I think on on huddle you don’t
get to see all that right you don’t you
don’t see if they’re pouting you don’t
see if they’re you know picking their
teammates up so you don’t you don’t see
that factor you don’t see that side of
it nice well so how did UCLA come
about uh
so you know I’m a mama’s boy my mom my
mom you know she did a really good job
with me I didn’t want to move out of
state you know one of my other choices
Ohio State uh coach Livingston he was at
my house once a week you know eating
dinner with
us uh
it was it was hard it was hard to turn
that down it was hard to turn Oregon
down it was hard to turn Texas down it
was hard to turn Tennessee down but at
the end of the day you know I wanted to
be where a place where my mom could come
you know drive down and fly fly to come
watch me play and so I ended up you know
choosing UCLA nice A little bit of the
college experience what was the best
thing about being a college football
player at that time
man you know it for me right we when we
go places we’d always see somebody
famous right we would we ran into Brian
Cox you know former NFL player ran into
Dennis Robin ran into Mike Tyson jalile
white who was the Steve Urkel he
actually went to UCLA also so you know
just seeing seeing cool people in the
summertime seeing all the NBA stars come
and hoop at UCLA that was pretty cool um
you know being able to hoop with with
the silk the
Shocker you know uh in the summertime
was was pretty cool you know hanging out
with those guys across across the way
you know Reggie Bush Matt leard yeah
they’re pretty cool
too um man so so when you were in
college uh obviously the the the big
dream or the big goal is to get to the
league um how did you do with that in
that area like how how was your actual
onfield experience so my freshman year
this is inspiring Man by the way I like
this this is this is awesome all right
so college experience on the field
experience like obviously you want to
get to the league but um how how did you
do in that part uh freshman year I red
shirted you know just worked on getting
bigger faster stronger uh my second year
I started to get in rotation had to uh
you know earn my spot you know I was one
of the starting return return guys
freshman year with uh my fellow teammate
tab Perry from elpas uh one of my really
good friends today um started off
returning kicks then I had a package for
me they had a package for me third down
back I’d come in and uh be our receiving
back because I had the best hands on the
team for sure out of the running backs
yeah for sure um and then you know coach
Toledo had a had a seniority style
method um you know so if you were older
you would get the opportunity just to
play uh and we all thought we should be
playing but uh unfortunately later in
the season against Washington State I’m
rur to kick
um and then I I tear my knee so that
kind of halted my my
uh my my pursuit to the NFL because I
didn’t know if I was going to play
football again so it was really bad
injury I tore my ACL my LCL my hamstring
my
miniscus uh against Washington State so
it was
a definitely a tough
blow damn I thought you meant like just
one that’s that’s the entire knee dang
near yeah
was it like during the play or yeah I
return a kick return right I plant and
then I seen a hole I se I was going to
score it looked like I was going to
score score and I got hit from the side
and then my knee hybri extended
backwards oh and then uh I fell to the
ground so Dam it was on TV you can hear
me
scream you have the clip I do I do I’ve
watched it so many times oh man I
watched it so many times just to see
just to see if I can do something
different damn H what how what what’s
your mindset during that whole recovery
process uh it was tough because what
year were you I was a register freshman
so okay so that was like your freshman
year so so I registered the first year
the second year yeah um it was rough
because they they were like you know the
doctors are chatting amongst themselves
and then they’re like ah I hate that
it’s going to be tough for him to play
and you know I can hear him you you know
I’m like what and it’s crazy because
it’s first time I’ve been injured you
know playing since I was eight first
time I’ve been injured so that was tough
and then my my trainer uh at UCLA
Debbie uh L to death she she brought me
aside and she said hey do you wna train
to get you back to walk normal do you
want to train to get you back playing
football again I look at her like no
we’re play I’m playing football again so
and that was the mindset I went to it we
had she designed a plan man and we went
to work it was painful it was painful
was painful and um one of my friends
that played soccer Jill
Oaks really good soccer player she had
just torn her ACL and PCL and so she’s
in the Turning room and I see
her and we became like rehab buddies and
and hers it was rough seeing and her cuz
she was a little bit ahead of me and she
had to break her scar tissue down to get
her range of motion and they had to
manually do it and she screamed and she
screamed I’m looking at my train I’m
like am I have to do that
too and like yeah wow shoot so it got so
loud it got so bad they had to take her
into another room so they can just do
that rehab part and it was just manually
so you can break the scar tissue down
because it was just everything in here
was was tight and so yeah it was it was
a process
wow so so so how did you end up getting
to the
pros uh the pros so I I didn’t get to
the pros I worked out for a couple teams
right so I was done I finished came back
home uh started working and then uh 2008
I’m like man I still want to play and so
I train I train go back to
UCLA
2009 uh and khil Bell was the senior
running back so I do the pro day with
him and another running back Chris
Marquee and you know we we’re all doing
our thing and uh a Bengal
Scout U and T Perry was playing for the
Bengals at the time and he’s like yo
meet my my boy and he he loved me he
loved me and the process was do you have
recent film and I was like no I don’t
like man I like the way you move catch
the ball you didn’t drop a pass you ran
good
routes and you know you don’t have film
no and so what I
did um I reached out to a couple guys
that were playing overseas and Finland
and uh they I had to emergency get my
passp for and I took off boom and I go
to Finland I play over here in Finland
uh to try to get some film but at that
time after it was it was too late like
it was too late it was too L how many
years
like like years off so that was two
years off I was two years
off that’s that’s still yeah no for I
mean recent they want they want Rec they
want like they went recent a couple
months ago kind of film oh okay so it’s
unfortunate unfortunate then I did I did
work out for the UFL Las Vegas
locomotives and aamp Lee was a running
backs coach for the loc locomotives he
played in the NFL running
back same deal same deal it’s like Jay
we we love you not he’s Jay I love you
but people at the top are like recent
film and then I had film send it to him
and he’s he
goes I like I like the way you run but
who are you playing against and so I’m
like okay I get that but I’m blazing by
you know I’m doing what I’m supposed to
do against my competition so and that
was my thing right and they end up going
with JJ Arington who played a cal who
played in the
NFL and so they felt he was more
credible
instead of me did you ever thought about
uh I don’t even know if the saber cats
were already invented back then but um I
mean there you know he talked about the
usfl is it us usfl UFL UFL United
Football League that was back that was
back in 2009 2010 so I did I did so I
did work out for the sounds saber cats
my agent did go take me to the Kanas
City
brigade right
and I kill I killed the Kanas City
brigade right I killed her
workout and this this is when my my
buddy Jared Paige used to lay Brewing uh
Kansas City Chiefs he was and I told him
I was coming out there and so he’s like
come on SO afterwards got chance to eat
dinner and stuff with
him um they they fly me back and I work
out
again and they’re like we’re going to
sign
you we’re going to sign you I said okay
cool and then their team
folds the Kansas City brigade fold so
you know it’s man when you say
unfortunate I was unfortunate so man you
know that’s the way it go sometimes but
I like I I love how you’re smiling about
this because it tells me that you gave
it
100% until the end when did it end when
did you finally say all right
enough of this I’m moving
on oh he’s not
done so you know I also I also stuck
around you know a few years for um the
minor league football semi
pro um my first year was 2009 with with
the Pacifica Islanders and uh they were
one of the better teams in this in the
nation and I actually
I’m in the Hall of Fame so I’m in A
Minor League Football Hall of Fame nice
yeah so I got I got
indued
2018 in Las Vegas yeah
so I did that but but like
2015 uh less than that I knew I wasn’t
going
professional
2010 and I said you know what let me let
me do this for fun and so I played a
little bit for fun and I actually
coached it and I actually want coached a
national so I won as a player National
Champion then I actually coached as a
national champion for I see minor league
football so BR which brings me to the
next question the coaching thing how did
that come about this is pretty cool by
the way this is like a good
like this could be this is like your
movie script right now
coach
well I wanted I wanted to coach I wanted
to get into coaching as my brother was
uh he was starting guard and starting
middle linebacker for Pioneer for Eric
Perry at
Pioneer and um talking with with Coach
Perry he’s like hey why don’t you come
on board and be my running back’s DB
coach I of course Let’s Do It um and so
that that and that time my coaching
career took off and you know I fell in
love with it I still talked to those
boys I coached my first year you know so
and that’s pretty cool and that’s the
cool thing about coaching you know the
impact you leave on the kids and and
they hit me up hey coach how you doing
let’s go to lunch or when are you free
let’s get together I think that’s pretty
I think that’s pretty
dope nice
and the opportunity to come back home
how did that come
about so
man there there’s some stuff I really I
I can’t get it so
when
2019 I was the OC right Officer
coordinator I knew after that year that
was the head coach’s last year he said
you better you better apply and I really
didn’t want to be you were the OC here I
was the OC here oh okay 2019 gotcha
gotcha um but I didn’t I never wanted to
be head coach it’s a lot it’s a lot head
coach so I I didn’t want
to but I
knew people
interviewing they had their full staff
so I’m like man can I really can I
really get on staff with someone if
someone else gets hired and I didn’t
want to take that chance so I threw my
hat in and um I talked to the admin like
hey I haven’t heard nothing
back what’s going on and so they came
back and was like oh you know what
you’re right come on and and so you know
then then I talked to them and then
eventually they gave it to me um but I
don’t think if if I wouldn’t have sent
anything to him I don’t even know if
they would have gave it to me but I you
know I’m like yo I haven’t heard nothing
back what’s going what’s up guys so I
was assertive and you know it end up
working out
nice wow okay that’s that’s a that’s a a
great story um so when so so now you’re
a head coach here um what what’s your
goal like what was your goal when you
took over the program and what’s your
goal now four years
later my goal was to bring tradition
back at Gunderson my goal was to to see
a change in athletes you know from from
then to now
um and just see overall success uh I
just you know it’s it was down it was
down it was it was really down and
so my first year here I open up the way
room I’d have two to three
guys and when I was OC and I was like
man this this is not good enough and
then it showed you know it showed when
we played and you know just trying to
build the mentality of I’m an athlete
I’m a football player I’m a student
athlete you know practicing matters
working hard matters and so just getting
that in in the kids’s head and them
thinking about it and it’s been a
process it’s been a process it’s been a
process um second year four to six
guys third year six to 10 guys
last year 10 to 13 14 guys I already
know which 13
do and so now we have you know 18 to
22 um
so it’s not easy it’s not easy it’s
moving it’s moving yeah it’s moving um
so Gunderson what’s your roster like
here what was last year’s roster that’s
as far as the number of
guys so we we have
about so we we we took our JV team out
last year because we didn’t have enough
JV freshman and sophomore guys so we had
about 28 total 28 total kids between 28
and 32 you know when week one um right
now we have 22 kids in the weight
room uh right now there’s kids playing
baseball there kids running track
there’s kids
swimming
um so that might be another 12 to 15
kids um so that’s a pretty good jump
that’s a big jump it’s a big jump so I’m
looking forward to it so why do you
think the
the how should I ask this cuz when you
were here it sounded like
there were dudes here you were
definitely here but what what what do
you think happened along the way from
like’ 04
to let’s just say 205 like 10 in that
10e span like how did things kind of
started to change around
here
um I there was number one there was a
lot of turnaround in the coaching staffs
number one I think coaches weren’t here
that long
to
build um and families moved away you
know more and more athletes moved away
because the cost of living and that’s
just a general area right you’re not
just talking about Gund you’re talking
about overall everywhere everywhere in
Silicon Valley really we move to the
valley you know move to Sacramento move
to the valley you know towards Fresno
Merced you know uh because cost of
living out here is is pretty high you
could talk about the private schools too
coach it’s all
good
yeah yeah so and then and then and then
the private school is taking kids you
know um doing doing what they do and
take taking kids from you know around
the corner and you know offering the
spot at at their school
so we’re not going to mention any names
but no name we are fully
aware of how things have been conducted
around this area let’s just say that
coach hey I’m a public school guy I I
love I love public private schools too
but I do think like it it it’s really
the family’s decision right
and but right now I think there’s a
movement that is on on on the come up
when it comes to uh
um families
choosing public school over private
especially some of the more talented
ones I’ll give you an example
moose moose was definitely a standout
eighth grade seventh grade eighth grader
right um he went the public route and
he’s headed to Washington mhm he was a
GSF Allstar you know fouryear Varsity
player I believe at will Cox we’re going
to be talking to him later on this week
but um as a coach of a public school
here in San Jose what would be your
pitch to parents
to have them at least consider Gunderson
or or any other of the public schools
around here I I could talk about this
all
day if you want your kid to go to a
four-year you do not need them to go to
a private school it’s not the case right
obviously grades matter obviously
abilities matter and you got to have
talent and they have to sign they got to
be elite right they want to go that
route they got to show on tape they got
to show on tape they’re fast they got to
show on tape they can tackle they got to
show on tape they can score touchdowns
they can show they have to show on tape
that they’re
impactful and then do the do the normal
go to camps test your 40 get your vert
get your
bench your kid will get recruited
wherever he goes doesn’t have to be just
private school and I think that’s The
Narrative of parents being brainwashed
into thinking that’s the only route for
the their kid to
go or to get to
college I love that that’s going to be a
standalone clip right there coach you
might go viral with that
clip um now you you you you mentioned
all those
things what’s your take on developing
development like athlete development do
you think a kid that is
average average height average
weight can turn
into a a a more a close to an elite
athlete by the time they’re a senior
100% 100% it’s just not going to be
every so often right it has to be
constant has to be consistent you
can’t you can’t work out once every
three days and think you’re GNA be elite
if you’re average it’s not the way it
works it’s not the way it works you have
to be your mindset has to be
focused and you’re going to get better
right it’s doing the daily stuff it’s
putting in your daily deposits every day
right I tell my kids this every day how
how much did you put in
today your daily deposits I just I I
just got shirts made put in your daily
deposit I gotta get one of those shirts
I got you I got you I got I got to I got
to represent yeah I’m trying to make a I
have a collection going with all the
schools um no that that that’s crazy
cuz since we started doing the seven on
sevens and I know I talked about this
with Coach
Andrew in our
experience there was a when we started
there was there were
two athletes that we met as
freshman one passed the itest the other
one also passed the itest but when it
came down to performance on the field
this was a try out it was clear that
athlete a was a much better athlete than
athlete B and the only thing they have
in common was they were making
plays but athlete a was making it look
easy athlete B was putting in the effort
four years
later athlete B is headed to an SEC
School mhm athlete a I’m not exactly
sure where he’s at I think he’s going
the J route okay but two different
backgrounds two different
schools all the
resources available is right
there something’s going on outside
coach don’t Donuts in the parking
lot really we should go out there with
the
cameras they have Automotive here at
Gunderson high school they’re just
testing the engine that’s it that’s it
that’s it oh man um but yeah
so all right it’s gone
um what were we talking about see that
messed me up athlete A and B athlete A
and B development um so I mean that that
that whole thing right there says a lot
because we actually follow those two
athletes pretty consistently throughout
their Journey they’re seniors now
they’re
graduating um but since we started
sevens and this is what this is now your
second year we’re about to wrap up this
Sunday uh we’ll talk about that um have
you ever ran into an athlete where
you’re like man if I could just have
that Talent on my squad we would
be seven and three yeah yes yes you know
it’s I see a kid or a kid plays on my
seven team like man or I just see he’s
good we he would have 2,000 yards
receiving you know
in our offense because we we we throw we
throw we run we throw you know we take
what the defense gives us but when I see
Talent oh yeah we we talk about him we
talk about him okay he’s good he’s gonna
be good he’s gonna be better in a couple
years he’s only a sophomore
shoot yeah can’t wait to see because you
know these kids we we follow we follow
oh yeah okay we see Talent we like we
like to keep updates on them and see you
know what they make of themselves right
and it’s it’s up to them it’s up to them
to to get out what they put in yeah I
think a lot of people don’t know that a
lot of coaches are
connected uh you may be in rival schools
but you guys still talk behind the
scenes and if you do see Talent you
support that and you do mention it like
you know word gets around yeah um I’m
sure you’re connected with UA and you
know they know you’re down here and they
ask you like Who’s down there right yeah
coach Foster he’s a new head coach for
UCLA I play with desan Foster um every
year he’s Jay who’s up in the bay right
and you know they have a standard and
you know I’ll shoot them I remember and
I I make fun of desan because back in
the day
Silas Silas you know I I had a pleasure
to work out with Sy a couple times and
I’m throwing you
Cyrus and you know you
know anyways he end up going talk about
Cyrus yeah a BB okay yeah yeah so you
know
um there’s been other there’s been other
guys there a lot of guys every year I
throw them names you know and they do
their
own due diligence and and research them
and at the end of the day they they’ll
go with who they want but every year you
know coach Foster ask me Jay who’s up in
the bay like I need dogs you know and
I’ll see you
know and I’ll tell them right and and uh
so every year um Nevada Cal you know
they all hit me up and say hey who’s in
the bay and you know I’ll shoot them
shoot them guys
nice speaking of dogs that’s your team
right there the
dogs uh we’re going to remix that whole
concept of Jersey and color and all that
thing next year but you guys have a
tournament coming up uh first of all
talk about like your team I know it’s
mostly Gunderson guys but you do have
other guys uh that that are free agents
you know they they go to other high
schools yeah uh what what’s been the
most like talk about your experience
coaching in these seven on seven
tournaments it’s been really cool see
the connection the bond that the guys
these guys make who are pretty
consistent on my 707 team obviously
there’s guys that hey coach can I play
this week you know and sure right but
you know we got guys from will Cox got
guys from Pont Hills got guys from
Valley Christian got guys from Santa
Teresa um that’s all played with me and
you know when I see them they follow me
in IG follow him back you know it’s cool
that
they that we stay connected and great
kids great athletes you know um I think
it’s pretty cool you know hey coach uh
can I still can I play this week you
know because we have we have our seventh
tournament on Sunday and then and then
hey coach can jayen Lewis Jeremiah’s
brother can can can he play with us and
so you know I I know the family pretty
well have of course J could play you
know so that’s cool to see that’s cool
to see it’s it’s that uh that kids want
to you know play for my 707 team I
always tell kids like th this is a rare
opportunity to play against some Elite
athletes cuz the last two tournaments
we’ve had we there’s there’s been some
guys there guys um and this one the last
one it’s I think this is going to be a
really intense one especially if you
guys get to the final four which you
know hey you guys are ranked now you’re
in the top 20
coach and you know the roster
Improvement the roster moves you made
you I mean that has a lot to do with it
but I know one of the guys that I talked
about briefly when I talked to Coach
Andrew a couple of days ago was AJ um
AKA Megatron Megatron um he’s got a lot
of
potential and
talk about him let’s single him out real
quick because I I know you’ve evaluated
him he’s played for you for a couple of
tournaments
um what do you think he’s a baller he’s
a sophomore he’s he’s a baller you know
he’s a guy draw back and throw the ball
and watch him work right you
know back in the
day we call that Moss him
up and now it’s headtop
back in my time Moss him up F
Bar Randy Moss you know because Randy
was his you know the guy so uh AJ
phenomenal athlete man
um uh he’s fast he’s
long he’s rangy you know he can he can
run routs and then his hands are are you
know pretty impressive so I’m looking
forward to playing with AJ you know this
having AJ on our team this weekend man
there’s going to be some really good
competition there I I think no Zone’s
coming up they got they got some dudes
yeah you know foa from northen you know
what the great thing about this
tournament is there’s going to be at
least
eight eight high schools represented
with the majority of the players in
those
teams playing
together are from their own high schools
that’s pretty cool norelus you guys
College Park MH activated are mostly
Sarah guys I think uh they’re 15U and
then you have nozo I think they all go
to same high school as well um but yeah
it’s going to be intense man have you
have you read the the modification of
the rules and what’s in there okay I I
got to review that I don’t know what’s
in there what’ you change so Final Four
is going to be not the
semis well the semis are going to be
intense because whoever’s in the semis
are going to play for the first and the
third
place so somebody’s going to be crowned
champion and then but then the third
place can play will play the champion of
the tournament for the champion of
champions and a $700 cash price coach
oh yeah okay so the semi-finals right we
got one team one and two team three and
four MH the loser of that game plays for
third place yep and then the they win
they play the champion of the
championship game
yep I’m sorry to whoever’s going to be
number two yeah yeah yeah the first
loser so it’s going to be intense so
we’re projecting you know the the final
four is going to be pretty intense
because now now I mean you don’t just
have shirts and plaques online you got
you got a $700 Lea refund going on there
uh so it should be fun but no it’s been
fun having you guys on the on the
circuit uh obviously we do our seven on
seven tournaments to cater to I mean
we’re catering to the local teams we’re
San Jose all our tournaments are at El
grve uh which is down the street from
here so we we really appreciate the
support support uh from from Gunderson
and and old grov uh we’ve been we’ve
done some work together for the last
couple of years uh coach Harrison over
here is a two-time two-time GSF Allstar
Champion GSF five star coach head coach
uh well we’re going to wrapped this up
with with your experience so far being
uh part of the All-Star process
um you were recommended by coach
Romero um and I was like are you talking
about Coach Harrison Jason Harrison UCLA
like Mr San Jose back in the days and he
was like yeah I was like oh okay and uh
no it’s been great I I love having you
be part of it I think you’re you’re like
the perfect
coach uh to be part of this this this
whole experience and I know we kind of
changed it for
from All-Star Game to All-Star
experience because our goal from the
get-go was to give the allstar
experience right it wasn’t perfect the
first year it wasn’t perfect the second
year but I think this third year is
going to be pretty special um talk about
just being part of it maybe go off on
some uh some of the practices that we we
had on this field and you know just the
whole overall experience uh it’s been
fun man you know when when you get
athletes like really good athletes on a
team and you get a chance to coach them
it’s it’s it’s one of those things where
you really got to sit back and take it
all in you know it’s it’s uh it’s pretty
cool to see uh bunch of different guys
of different schools the best of the
schools getting together and then just
vibing so that’s been real fun this last
two two years um and actually you know
installing the offense installing
defense and go out there having fun and
actually being able to win the game so
that’s pretty cool uh this past
year I made made it made a made a
emphasis on putting in some trick plays
you know to make it fun make it fun for
the kids um and so uh just being able to
have athletes and being able to execute
in that two week period is is pretty
cool yeah we had Stars
this the SEC the first year talk about
the first year though I mean you had no
idea what was going on we none of us did
really yeah we were like okay so this is
what we’re going to do and I don’t know
if not everything went the way we wanted
it to go there were so many things that
was kind of slashed off the list you
know we had budget issues we had staff
issues the kids were not an issue
because we picked the kids with the GPA
right what do you think of that whole
requirement thing I think that’s awesome
you want to play you know we’re student
athletes we should hold ourself to a
higher standard you know and 3.0 is not
really hard to get
so 3.0 are better right and I think it
should be the standard moving forward
like that that shouldn’t change Al that
shouldn’t change
3.0 because we are students first so I
think that’s really important and then
the second part right you know uh the
nomination aspect U parent coach admin
ad whatever may be um I think that
shows that you’re capable of playing um
and being part of this this whole
process from um a peer or a parent or
whoever may be so I think it’s pretty
cool and and then the athletes right I
think last year and it’s not about going
D1 right it’s it’s
it’s being a great kid being a great
student being a great athlete um and
it’s getting the kids out there having
fun yeah um
the the whole idea
of having the coach or a coach admin
parent
uh nominate the athlete was to kind of
get rid of the whole favoritism thing
because I’m sure if if we just talk to
the head coach and be like can you give
us nominations for the All-Star Game in
a way you’re kind of handcuffed or
limited to like
well I can only nominate how many you
know so that kind of took the pressure
off the head coach uh when it comes to
the nomination um but when when you
finally met your players talk about the
first year I know you had three guys
from Gunderson uh you had Edgar is it
Edgar Edgar Anthony yes those three guys
um but when you finally met the
players how are you able to kind of like
evaluate every single
one you know cuz you know everybody
wants to play offense everybody
everybody coach give me the ball coach
when you’re alignment I’m like you know
what
it’s not gonna work did you get the ball
during the season no you’re not getting
the ball in the allstar game so you know
uh that’s fun you know evaluating is is
really tough because we got to think
about who who’s going to play offense
and who’s gonna play defense well he can
he can do both you know we’re gonna have
those kids that can do both um but I let
the defense get their
guys defense defense defense and then at
the end of the day the other guys are
athletes as well come on come play
offense so you have a good
defense in an allstar game we’re going
to be good we’re gonna be good and we’re
gonna have we’re gonna we’re gonna find
Opportunities to score and put up points
on offense uh Ferrari
Miller that that’s the reaction right
there um I thought he was like the
perfect guy to be part of this game
especially afterwards when the game was
all said and done um
you know he he he’s got the grades he
was a baller came from a great program
of
climens not get he didn’t get a lot of
recruiting um because for some reason I
don’t know why I mean we we still we’re
still trying to figure out why he’s up
in the city now yeah City College of San
Francisco but what was your impression
of him when you first met him and you
found out he was part of your team he
he gentle voice gentle voice didn’t say
much just coach I got it and he put the
work in coach I I’ll do it whatever you
need coach I’ll do it and that’s what
that’s who he was and uh his situation
at mcclimens right it was a two-headed
monster with him and the other running
back who’s playing at Cal now right so
so um he was fortunate to have dynamic
duo at the same time he he didn’t get
the looks that he deserved um and I I I
talked to him a couple months ago and he
told me situation at San Francisco city
uh and I just I nailed it in him get in
the weight room he’s like yeah coach I’m
in the weight room that’s the one thing
they can’t take away anything from you
is get big strong fast he’s already fast
big strong keeping Mobility he said yeah
coach I’m on it so I’m looking forward
to seeing him uh develop and ball out
the next couple couple years that was a
special group
that first group was a special group uh
but he was definitely like the guy
yeah fast forward to this past December
we had multiples of the guys and
um when you saw the
roster know we were constantly adding
guys in yeah what what what did you
notice with the the caliber players that
was getting on there uh you SE we’ve
seen a lot more guys that are going
division one this year um whether it
would be San Diego State San Jose State
Tennessee you know
um uh Army you know more more D1 caliber
type guys
um and you know from from Top tier
programs St Francis Sarah de la you know
all those big time programs unfortunate
lascos had a few guys but they opted out
I’m looking forward to getting those
guys in this you know also I think it’
be good for
them um just uh just a it was it was an
awesome experience this year uh seen
seen
hard-hitting you know um you you know we
had Bellman loved loved seeing Parker
out there ball um
love one of my favorite guys jayen green
you know uh funny character he’s a
character he’s a character but he’s
great athlete I’m happy he’s going to um
he’s going to uh Lehi leeh High yes so
that’s he just he just became the
fastest Sarah Padre in history he beat C
laa uh over the weekend like he took
third I believe in CCS I saw that saw it
we had
challenges rain rain rain yeah yeah the
rain the rain uh slowed the game down
but that’s football you know we got to
make adjustments and um you know we held
through we held through late in the game
we we came out and just run the ball run
the ball run the ball and then we had a
play where let’s let’s take the safety
because it’s only a little bit of time
left so um to A little sloppy towards
the end but uh um we took the lead early
on and we held on to it now you you
never really had a full
Squad throughout the entire thing
because we had finals going on the
weather was ugly and and and it was just
difficult for cuz we had guys coming
from all over and your team that was
your team yeah yeah guys from Richmond
guys from Napa Stockton San Francisco MH
you had the All-Star team yeah um at one
point I was looking at you and I’m
like how is he going to do
this can’t install any offense or
defensive
plays um but you were just like all
right we’re going to do
this you you were just going through it
uh you weren’t concerned I wasn’t
concerned you know the main thing is
main thing with football especially the
linan knows what to do we’ll be okay
right and and uh I had a couple good old
line coaches so you know I’m in good
hands I was in good hands so it it was
you know when we didn’t have those guys
all right we’re lineman make sure you
guys know what to do because we can just
say hey run a post
when he sent you come in motion that’s
easy that’s easy so it was it was mainly
for the lineman to actually be able to
execute and get the double team blocks
or reach block whatever it was and
um and so we were able to execute you
know to the victory your coaching
staff um one of the things that was cool
about this old experience is that you
were able to put together your staff
it’s kind of like okay you’re the head
coach put your staff together yeah so
and you pretty much have the same kind
of staff I think you’re pretty
consistent with uh a handful of guys but
who who were your your guys this this
year okay I had Josh vpz he was coaching
defense I had doc McCoy he was my DB
coach I had s Washington he was my
running back coach I had sonone um fuk
who was my D line coach coach deff was
my old line coach and we’re on the same
page for a lot of stuff um so we we were
locked and loaded at every position
really yeah no it was it was a great
experience glad to have you on board uh
going for
thirds going for thirds going for thirds
next year at Gunderson High School Co
coach is he’s put the bid in it’s like
hey home field I I think I’ve earned it
I think he’s earned it we we’re going to
look into it but um so moving forward
though coach I know we got a big
tournament on Sat Saturday I mean
Sunday um sounds like you got the
roster I mean you only need 13
Ballers yeah I got about 16 you got 16
nice
coaching how did H how are you with
coaching and now that you you got a
taste of the sevens now full
season head coach football here at
Gunderson how is your love for the game
changed in the
last few
years um the love for the game
is I love this game I love this game
so it really hasn’t changed
but I
think the impact that I want to keep on
building on is is is getting higher
right I I I love doing this for the kids
I love seeing kids grow I love seeing
kids reach their goals you know so for
me it’s it’s about the kids so I take
pride in building relationships with
these kids that’s important to
me now we hear that all the time a lot
of coaches talk about that they say it’s
all about the kids but I can tell you
guys right now with Coach Harrison it
really is all about the
kids uh no we we wouldn’t be working
together if I didn’t think you were one
of those individuals because I I know
with us um with the get Sports Focus
especially the All-Star
group all the coaches that we uh
qualified and and ended up working with
definitely do care about the kids from
you to coach Cordo Coach Andrew coach C
coach duve I mean these guys are very
passionate about the game
very passionate about helping the
younger
generation uh be the best they can be uh
through this experience of playing
football
um if you were to go
back and talk to your High School
freshman
self what would be your
advice man we kind of skipped we didn’t
even talk about like the lifestyle of
these kids now days but can you see
yourself going through the same
experience and going through things the
same way if you
were living if you if it was like right
now it’s easier now I think workouts and
fitness has
evolved I think it’d be easier now you
know so I would say
work harder than everybody right when I
was growing up right I’d go to the park
we’d hoop all day we’d go to Cherry Park
we go to willan park we go to Pine Park
we go to cam Community Center you know
we’d go hoop and we’d run 24 Hour
Fitness and we’d go run all day that’s
cuz you didn’t have a
phone you had a pager coach pager pager
so we just come on you know have my
water jug of water or whatever it
was sometimes I sometimes it was it was
a jug of Kool-Aid from my Gatorade right
I take it with me and we hoop all day we
hoop all day man um so I just work hard
work hard and bust your bud just like
just like I did man it’s
just what’s my goal how am I going to
reach it and then I just apply it so it
uh try to stay off social media
tell myself try to please stay off
social media the necessary stuff right
posted my highlights you know send send
it to the
scouts yeah
so it’s about
it and and then you know try to enjoy
yourself man have some f have some fun
be a kid yeah yeah is there anything
important that we haven’t talked
about where where where did where did it
called where did all the self
motivation came from coach like it’s it
sounded like you were you were like a
selfstarter
motivated but who who was behind you or
who was under you pushing you or keeping
you
focused well it was a I was a modest
really really modest kid um I wasn’t
you
know self-centered I wasn’t cocky it was
my my older brother he was two years
older than me he’s like you need to be
more confident and I was just like I’m
not good enough he’s like you you one of
the best running backs I’ve ever seen I
I can be better so he was just trying to
trying to get me to open up a little bit
and just be a little bit more confident
about my ability when I’m like no I
could be better so my my brother and
obviously my mom for putting me in the
sports
but uh at a young age I figured it out
at a young age you know football
basketball I want to play
so there was no you know and and growing
up I’m an MJ fan he’s the
goat right and watching him and watching
the documentaries watching those
basketball stories on Michael and how he
worked out
and I said you know what he’s my
favorite player so I’mma follow his
footsteps and so you know just just the
grind of being great and trying to be
great I think that’s what pushed
me nice so who who who would you like to
think coach this is we we’ll wrap it up
with this wow we got an hour and 16
minutes I said it was going to be 30
minutes long but man this is awesome
though I think this would be a great
piece
um this is the part where you get to say
thank you to some of the people that
have made an impact in your life
absolutely my mom of course you know she
um raised four kids on her own so my
mom’s give her give her most of the
credit and then um you know all my
coaches who inspired me you know for for
my uh Willow Glenn and Kye Creek days
you know that’s that uh being those
father father
role role model
figures um my uncle uncle Ramsey
appreciate
you uh my coaches that put me in the
game told me that I’m one of the team
captains told me I’m a leader ex told me
expectations and I went out and
delivered them um all all the my UCLA
coaches you know uh coaches I’ve coached
with the coaches I’ve played under
appreciate all you guys and uh we’re
going keep on doing this thing man we’re
going to keep on going nice now looking
ahead coach bonus question there’s
always a bonus question
go what’s the ultimate goal with this
coaching
thing ultimate goal
is to build you know obviously want to
be
successful
um and I give a lot of credit to coach
maningo from Overfelt last year here you
know I was
questioning moving you know elsewhere
and uh taking other
opportunities and he he he looked at me
and said why why would you do that is is
Gunderson better now then when when you
first started and I I said yeah why
would you
leave you know so it’s a process and
maningo said it’s the process that took
them six seven
years and I’m on your I was on year
three last year now I’m on year four and
I see the the fruits of the labor that
I’ve put in that we’ve put in uh the
kids you know 20 kids in the weight room
you know getting better stronger
so um thank you
maningo but just just to see growth man
grow growth in me every year I reflect
on myself I can do this this this this
is better um but I want to
see I want to see the brand of a
football where wherever I’m at grow so
that’s what I expect this year um and I
want to keep on doing that do you have
aspirations to coach at the next level
college and
Beyond or is it like job’s not done I’m
staying here
until and then I’ll move
on definitely not jobs definitely not
done um it’s it’s definitely motivating
uh last year we missed CS by a game and
then two years before that we missed CCS
by a game so it’s it’s definitely we’ve
been close we’ve been close twice and uh
that’s definitely something I want the
kids to experience especially before um
I think about going elsewhere um so yeah
job’s not finished I want these kids to
experience something uh that they can
think about
you know to years to come so that’s
that’s definitely on on uh my raidar on
my list for this year now let’s just
say let’s just say an opportunity comes
along um how tempting would it be to
take an opportunity that
is
um very good I don’t know how else is
like a like just just you know a
different level of opportunity because
honestly dude I have talked about you to
other individuals that I know that I’m
connected to and I’m like coach Jason
Harrison is a great coach and should be
coaching at a program or in an area or
in this league that League nothing
against Gunderson but you know I I just
see it’s basically like like high school
kids like you you see a talent it’s like
man I would love to see that talent in
this environment you know
like similar to that yeah
so I had the opportunity this this off
season uh to really consider
elsewhere at a few but oh ultimately I
decided to turn it down to stay
gunon um reason being is what you know
what we talked about job’s not done uh
and Coach maningo helped me out a lot
you
know it’s better than when you started
and it takes time to build something
great and why would you leave when you
try to build something great so um it
was it was tough tough decision because
it’s some pretty pretty good places um
but
at the end of the day
uh like I
said do I do it for me or do it for the
kids so I know I know the kids I know
the kids here really care for me they
love me uh and so I want I definitely
want to see something special come out
of me being here there you go parents if
you’re
listening Gunderson High School is a
great place to be especially if you’re a
football player because you’re going to
get coach Harrison and you’re going to
get somebody who actually
cares and that should be enough for you
to make a
decision how’s that for a marketing tag
you know no man I appreciate you doing
this it was long overdue can’t believe
we didn’t do this earlier but I think we
did a zoom before the first allstar game
and I think I have it somewhere but I’m
like no we can’t use that we got to do
this in person live and here we are we
finally did it I appreciate your time
coach um looking forward to uh working
with you some more and absolutely hey
I’m all in whatever you’re doing here
I’m all in I’m here to help let’s put
the South Bay back on the map old Grove
Gunderson you know um I’m excited man
I’m excited for the for what’s to come
thank you thank you man
[Music]