First in the spotlight is one of my own football coaches, Coach Dylan Griffith. Coach Dylan became a part of the program earlier this year when he went to go get a workout on our field here at SM. At the same time there were some wide receivers working out with Coach Udi Loza and he later spoke with Loza. He heard about the program here and gave Coach Loza some insight about his football path and a few weeks later was offered a spot in the coaching staff. Coach Griffith specializes in coaching the Wide Receiver position as he played receiver in highschool and college. Griffith went to Oaks Highschool where he played at a very high level of football which landed him recruitment from division 1- AA schools. He ended up attending Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, but sadly his football career was cut short due to lingering injuries from his senior year. 

Coach Griffith is now the director of Development and Advocacy for Freedom 4 Youth which is a locally based organization that supports people who are impacted by the criminal legal system throughout Santa Barbara county. Griffith runs programs inside and out of youth and adult jails, where he advocates for changes in the system to promote compassion and healing instead of punishment and retribution. Coach Dylan was inspired to pursue this line of work starting when he got involved with the juvenile system when he was 13 years old. He explained how being white and upper-middle class led to preferential treatment. 

“Football was one of the biggest parts of my life because it has taught me that commitment to craft pays off, regardless if you got the expected outcome or not.” Said coach Dylan. “I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work a dream job where I can commit myself to building healthy relationships and strong support systems with people who have high levels of need in our community.”

The next coach I would like to highlight is head coach of the girls volleyball team, Coach Tina Brown. Coach Brown is a volleyball native as she played volleyball at Cal Poly and had an incredible experience, that it was natural for her to encourage her daughters to play as well. Her daughter taking up volleyball led her to start coaching it at Dos Pueblos in 2002. Thankfully, since then, Brown became the coach here at San Marcos.

“It’s been a joy and honor to continue to share my love of the game with the incredible young ladies at San Marcos!” Said coach Brown.

I talked to Coach Brown and asked her about the 2022 girls team and her thoughts heading into CIF, she had lots of positivity to share. 

“We have a very talented team this year, with solid players in every position.” Said coach Brown. “We’ve worked through different rotations to find hopefully what will be our strongest lineup leading us into CIF.” 

Brown emphasizes to her athletes to do the little things right and focus on individual responsibility. After great performances against DP and Buena, Coach Brown is looking forward to them getting into a good groove heading into CIF.