Cardinal Newman's Richard Sanchez voted SBLive's California Football Coach of the Week by fans (10/2/2023)
Richard Sanchez had big shoes to fill when he became Cardinal Newman's head coach in 2021.
His predecessor, Paul Cronin, molded the program into one of the best small-school football programs in California during his 18-year tenure, which included a state championship in 2019.
When Sanchez came in, California high school sports were still greatly affected by the pandemic, and the Cardinals were making the transition with a relatively inexperienced roster. Unlike most of the other top programs in the North Coast Section, Cardinal Newman isn't in a large population center where new pipelines are less difficult to establish. Not in a small Sonoma County market that's not known for its prep sports due to its sheer remoteness.
But the Cardinals haven't missed a beat under Sanchez. They won eight games and made the CIFNCS Division 4 championship in both his first two seasons at the helm. And they're now off to their first 5-0 start in his tenure despite having another underclassmen-heavy roster following a 34-0 rout of Saint Mary's (Albany). Senior running back Zachary Homan dominated with 217 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
Photo by Cardinal Newman High School
For Cardinal Newman's sizzling start to 2023, Sanchez was voted SBLive's California Football Coach of the Week for Week Five (Sept. 21-23), receiving the most votes of any coach so far this season with 14,192 (54.17-percent of votes).
Despite coming in second with 45.30-percent of votes, Dan Urbanos of Kennedy (La Palma) still amassed the most votes for a candidate this season other than Sanchez. Urbanos received 11,867 votes. Like Cardinal Newman, Kennedy moved to 5-0 in Week Four with a shutout win, a 41-0 thrashing of Katella. Despite picking up their first loss the following week to a dominant Tustin foe, the Fighting Irish are still off to one of their best starts in recent history under their fourth-year head coach.
To nominate a coach in future weeks, please email Lance@scorebooklive.com or tag us on Twitter or Instagram at @SBLiveCA.
(Feature photo by Cardinal Newman High School)
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