5/28/09
Escalante High School hired its third football coach in as many years, and fifth in six years, when Diego Brusuelas was hired in March to replace Jesus Maes.
Maes served just one year as coach of the Lobos and was not rehired after the end of the 2008 football season. Escalante finished 4-5 last season, and 2-2 in District 1A.
Maes began the season 0-2 and felt that after his loss to rival Dulce in the second game of the season, he lost the support of athletic director Paulino “Sonny” Villegas.
“After those first two losses, me and the (athletic director) started bumping heads,” Maes said. “It turned out to be personal.”
Villegas referred all questions to Chama School District Superintendent Manuel Valdez, who did not return calls for comment.
Brusuelas, a 2001 Escalante graduate, said he’s been eyeing the Lobo coaching job for a long time.
“The position opens up every year,” Brusuelas said. “I’ve been wanting to apply because I’m from here and close to the community. I have a passion for coaching.”
Brusuelas played varsity football for four years at Escalante, and he has served as an assistant football coach at the school three times, under coaches Joe Soliz in 2004, Pat Ward in 2005 and Maes last season. Brusuelas also served as an assistant basketball coach for the 2008-09 season, and he shared boys track coaching duties with Thomas Royston this spring.
Brusuelas said he has learned much about the game from coaches he’s worked with, both as an athlete and an assistant.
“From coach Ward, I learned how to motivate and get players to overachieve,” Brusuelas said. “He taught me the importance of scouting and being a student of the game.”
After Ward was not rehired, Brusuelas next served as an assistant to Maes. Despite the Lobos’ losing record, Brusuelas said Maes knew how to run the spread offense that Escalante employed last season.
“There were times last season we could have played with any team in the state, when (Maes) had that spread offense clicking,” Brusuelas said. “I tried to be a sponge, always ask questions and absorb all the knowledge I could from the coaches I’ve worked with.”
Brusuelas said he’ll have a more run-oriented offense than the pass-intensive spread that Maes used last season.
“My philosophy is ball control, getting positive yardage on every play and basically to out-will the other team,” Brusuelas said.
Brusuelas, who was a running back and track star at Escalante, said he’ll also encourage his players to participate in more than one sport.
“You have to be able to utilize athletes in every sport at a small school,” Brusuelas said. “An athlete’s an athlete.”
Brusuelas has been working with next year’s players in the weight room and is looking forward to the beginning of the upcoming season.
“The kids are excited, but I think I’m more excited than they are,” he said. “I really love being around kids, getting the best out of them and watching them realize their potential.”