Newly aquired head football coach Rory Schoonmaker found quick success in his first year leading the Saints.
Santa Ana High School introduced “Schoon” as the new leader of the program during the offseason after former coach Charlie TeGantvo accepted a job offer at Marina High.
After playing at Huntington Beach, he went to Santa Ana Community College for two years before playing at Grayson University in Iowa. His coaching career has included positions at Edison High, Santa Ana College, Brethren Christian High, and Canyon High.
The Saints finished the season with an overall record of 7-4, including a 5-1 Orange Coast League mark and a share of the league championship, alongside Orange and St. Margaret’s. The finish earned the team a berth in the CIF Southern Section Division 9 playoffs.
Schoonmaker brings a coaching philosophy that earned the Saints a five-game winning streak along the way as well.
“There are always five components that I really want,” he said. “My coaches and my teams have a place. I always want us to be prepared for any game we go into. This is why we spend so long game planning, setting up what we want we want to do on a game-by-game basis. Respect, respect in the game, respect the rules, respect in the expectations. Not only the school but the community in regards to our conduct on the field. It’s big for us. Integrity is obviously one of those things that we focus on and pride ourselves on. Making sure the game is played the right way within the rules. Dedication to the program, making sure we’re spending time here with each other and working hours. And lastly, we talked about and talked about it pretty regularly, but execution and efficiency. The last ‘E’ that we put on the PRIDE acronym is execution, execution, execution because frankly none of it really matters without the execution.”
He says that season one is just the beginning of what he hopes to continue building.
“Some stability, higher expectations is the other thing,” he said. “We know what teams here have done in the past and we know what teams were capable of in the past. While we’ve played well and we’ve enjoyed our season, I don’t think any of us have really gotten out of those seasons what we want to do in the long run.”
Reflecting on his 1st season, Schoonmaker has already started to see his vision come to life.
“I think so far the kids are stepping up to the challenge that we set,” he said. “When I asked them if they would like me to take the job, the biggest thing I told them is I was going to ask more. We’re gonna do more, I’m going to ask and have higher standards, higher expectations for themselves. Through their playing time in high school, and to their prosperity I would say they have very much shown up in that regard thus far. I’ve asked more of them, they’ve been delivering more and so far, we’re seeing the benefits of that on the field.”
