A Fort Lewis College hall of famer and semi-pro football player is taking over the reins of Bobcat football.
And he's making his presence known.
"You leave when I leave!" shouted Alfonso "Ponch" Garcia, only partly in jest, to a prospective player Monday afternoon during his first official practice as Ignacio football's newest head coach.
"It was a lot of fun," he said Tuesday, having had a day to fully appreciate the moment. "Scary at the beginning of course, because you come into a 'blind spot.' You don't know what you're having. I was overwhelmed to see 27 kids; I was expecting to see less!"
He continued: "I love their enthusiasm. They're being positive; the negative stuff is out the door. I'm very comfortable with where I'm at right now."
Even if that means instilling and installing a brand-new...well, everything.
"The 'house' has not been built yet," said Garcia, acknowledging the task of rebooting a program 1-8 overall, 1-4 in the 1A Southern Peaks Conference during a tumultuous 2014. "We've got to start with fundamentals. From the bottom everything's got to start.we can't start from the top or middle right now."
"Lupe was like, 'Player-wise, I don't know what's coming back,'" he noted, recalling informal chats with predecessor Lupe Huerta, who'd been helming the Bobcats through feast or famine since 2007. "And he said, '..because of the experience they had, it's hard to tell.' It's something that's up to the kids to do."
"And the kids that have come, they're incredible...willing to sacrifice, give everything they have. And right now school hasn't started so.I'm going to give them two more weeks and see how many show up. Like I told my staff: Whatever walks through those doors, we'll coach!"
Garcia starred at 4A Durango, then earned three Honorable Mention NAIA All-America awards at FLC between 1986 and 1989. He was named to the FLC hall of fame in 1996.
"Coach Huerta, you know, we are good friends-played softball together for many years-and he actually asked me several years back...goes, 'I would like to have you as head coach at Ignacio' just as a friend!" noted Garcia. "He was like, 'Would you be interested in this?' And one thing led to another, Rocky (Cundiff) calls me, then Rocco Fuschetto calls me, goes 'Are you interested?' I'm like, 'I'm always interested.'"
"Now I can give back to our kids and our community. Durango, Ignacio, Bayfield, Pagosa, Cortez.it doesn't matter; I've always been the guy that's going to try to help kids in whatever they can."
And at a glance it would appear his assistants are of the same ilk.
"I think I picked the perfect staff for me-not just because they're my friends, but because I trust them with everything we're doing. They are the guys that will do anything for you on the field and off."
"We played college football together," he said of aides Bill Gwinn and Darren Rowley, "we also coached together at a lower level...they bring a lot of energy. And Justin Lupe played at the Fort a few years back...and Lupe wants to become a coach; what better way to do that than at this level?"
"And Anthony Archuleta, a local who coached here last year, he was wondering if he was going to 'fit,' and once we had our first meeting he goes, 'Hell yeah I want to coach with you guys!'"
"I think we've got more energy than the kids do!" he said with a laugh.
The question is how to channel that current and up its voltage practice to practice, week to week.
"The philosophy right now is to make the kids believe in the little things we are teaching them," said Garcia, NFL Draft-eligible in 1990 and later officially chosen in the 1991 World League of American Football draft's seventh round by the Orlando Thunder. "To make the kids buy into it, make 'em feel wanted, make 'em feel like they belong-that's what we want to do."
"We're going to run the veer offense, so it's something that's going to change the whole past of what's been here; it's way opposite of the spread offense and the passing," he said, somewhat ironically given his history (still top-five at FLC in both catches and yardage) as a receiver.
"I am going to spread it a little bit too, but not a lot. A coach told me yesterday, goes, 'Where do I go? What else you need me to do?' I said, 'Teach the kids how to block, teach the kids how to catch a football, how to throw a football..' We have to go through those things."
"This level is as good as any level. You're going to find good talent at any level-just go and look at the basketball team!" he stated. "If you can build something that is as strong as our basketball team here, if we can start the same thing with football, the sky's the limit."
Garcia went on to stress the Bobcats' one-word motto for 2015: TOGETHER.
"The challenge is going to be awesome," he added. "I'm looking forward to it."
THE GAME'S BEEN GOOD: Though not destined for the NFL as time would tell, Garcia still went where his talents would take him. One special stint came with the semipro Pueblo Crusaders, Minor League Football System members from '89-90 (and its champs the first year, then runners-up the second).
"We did some damage; that was a lot of fun," he recalled. "I got to see the whole United States, got to play against guys from bigger universities and did well."
"I had chances.it didn't work out. But you know, not many can say that.. And it was a joy to play."
