Santa Fe begins new era with the hiring of Carl Agnew as football coach
New head football coach, Carl Agnew, during football practice at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Springs. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
SANTA FE SPRINGS – A new era in Santa Fe High School football has begun with the hiring of Carl Agnew as head coach this past June.
Agnew, 42, replaces Dave Pierson who was head coach for nine years for the Chiefs. Pierson took over for legendary coach Jack Mahlstede in 2012.
“I was at Lakewood as the defensive coordinator for the last couple of seasons (2019-20) and saw the opening at Santa Fe,” Agnew said. “It was closer to home. Luckily I got it and it all worked out well for me.
“The focus is to get back to the basics here at Santa Fe with football, then moving on and progressing from there. Hopefully, we can start with the fundamentals and get the program back to where it used to be.”
The last league title was in 2017 and prior to that, Mahlstede led the Chiefs to a Del Rio League (DRL) title in 2011. La Serna has won the DRL the last three years.
After the 2017 league title season, Santa Fe fell on hard times, winning only four games in three seasons.
New head football coach, Carl Agnew, demonstrates a drill during football practice at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Springs. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
“The first order of business is just getting this team ready to play the scrimmage game and next Thursday (August 19 at Summit High in Fontana) for a full game,” Agnew said. “We’re doing everything we can to organize this to get everybody ready to play. We’re excited that we’re going to start the same time that school starts.”
Agnew comes to Santa Fe with plenty of accolades, as he guided his teams to six CIF-Southern Section playoffs appearances, reaching the second round five times.
Agnew, who was head coach at Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley for 11 years, took over in 2008 and stepped down in 2018 to be closer to home.
Agnew grew up in San Diego and attended St. Augustine High, graduating in 1997. He was a fullback and linebacker for the Saints.
Upon graduation, Agnew attended San Diego Mesa Community College. He played defensive end and was a linebacker for the Olympians.
He finished his college career at Chapman University in Orange (99-00), playing linebacker.
His first coaching stint came at Los Amigos as an assistant from 2001-05 and moved up to Golden West College the next two seasons (06-07). He received his first head coaching position back at Los Amigos in 2008.
Agnew reflected on his two seasons at Lakewood. “With the COVID season being a loss season, it didn’t seem like we gained anything,” he said. “That’s probably in a lot of places.
“This year we have Matt Amin-Picado, who is a top returner from last year. He played offense a lot and started as a freshman. We’re expecting a lot out of him. He’ll be a two-way player.
“Senior Romeo Zuniga is a lineman and will also be a two-way player and is a returning starter as well. We’ve got some good experience on the line, but we’re really young at the skill positions.”
Players to watch
Romeo Zuniga, defensive end/left tackle; senior Michael Gonzalez; Matt Amin-Picado, receiver and cornerback; Adrian Montes, linebacker/fullback; Victor Flores, receiver/defensive back; Chris Ledesma, receiver/defensive back; junior Pedro Debora, linebacker/fullback; junior Andrew Huguez, offensive/defensive lineman; junior Evan Melendrez, receiver/ defensive back.
“We are very young at Santa Fe,” Agnew added. “We only have 12 seniors and most of them will start on the offensive and defensive lines and bring a lot of experience and leadership to the team. The juniors are not as experienced, but bring a lot of energy.
“The skill positions will be the youngest with sophomore quarterback Adrian Huguez and Amin-Picado.
“This season, the long term goal is to get them into the playoffs,” Agnew added. “We’ve been talking about it since I showed up. Obviously competing for a league title is the second ultimate goal.”
New head football coach, Carl Agnew, leads football practice at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Springs. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
What they said
Romeo Zuniga, senior DE/Tackle: “It feels good and I really like the coach and I like everything just coming back after the COVID season.
“[Coach Agnew] brings everything. He brings a different intensity and a different feeling to just play again.
“Everything feels different this year with the five games we played (in the spring) and now we get an opportunity to play a whole 10.
“This is a new opportunity to be a senior and put it all up there for the last year. It feels great and I’m excited to show what I can do.
“I believe we can do anything we can put our minds to and being a team, and being together as a family.”
Matthew Amin-Picado, sophomore receiver/cornerback: “I think [Coach Agnew] is really putting the effort in and he really wants to coach.
“I’m very excited, especially since we have 15 games (including spring ’21). I’m looking forward to just being with the team and getting some wins and celebrating.
“I love to catch and run the ball and at the end of the season to be league champions.”
