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Who are the most influential high school football coaches in Tulare County history?
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network will spotlight the roots of the country’s sports culture: the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities.
This month, we're honoring the head coaches who helped define the football landscape across the area. Here's a look at some of the top all-time high school football coaches in Tulare County history (listed in alphabetical order):
The Central Section's active winningest head coach, Bennett has set the gold standard during his reign, leading Tulare Union to five Central Section championships (1999, 2000, 2008, 2017, 2018) and 15 East Yosemite League titles (1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018).
Bennett enters the 2026 season, his 32nd overall, with a head coaching record of 257-131-1. He was the head coach at CVC from 1991-94. During that time, the former college quarterback helped turn the Cavaliers from an 8-man team into an 11-man squad.
Five of Bennett's former players went on to play in the NFL — running back/receiver Kazmeir Allen (Washington Commanders), tight end Virgil Green (Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers), offensive lineman Bryce Harris (New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons), receiver Marquess Wilson (Chicago Bears) and linebacker Zach Diles (Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns). Green won a Super Bowl ring with the Broncos in 2016.
Blackwell, a former College of the Sequoias and Fresno State fullback, was the first head coach to lead a Tulare County football program to a CIF State championship.
Strathmore became the first team within county lines to win a state title in 2017, capturing the CIF State Division 6-AA championship that season, punctuating a perfect 16-0 campaign. The Spartans' 16 wins that year set a new Central Section record for most victories in a single season.
Additionally, Blackwell's squads have won five Central Section Division VI crowns (2009, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023). Strathmore also became the first Tulare County football program to win two state titles when it claimed the 2023 CIF State Division 7-A crown.
In 25 seasons, all with Strathmore, Blackwell owns a head coaching overall record of 193-79.
Casale was the head coach at Mt. Whitney for 20 seasons (1975-87, 1993-1999).
His 1978 Pioneers' squad — which featured three players (Don Mosebar, Lupe Sanchez, Michael Young) who went on to play in the NFL — is considered one of the best teams in state history. That Pioneers' team won the Central Section Yosemite Division championship and went a perfect 13-0. The Pioneers' average margin of victory that season was more than 30 points.
Casale also directed Mt. Whitney to seven Cowhide victories. He has the most wins in Pioneers football history with an overall head coaching record of 143-69-2.
During his time as the Orosi head coach (1965-96), Coats directed the Cardinals to four Central Section Sierra Division titles (1967, 1971, 1984, 1985). His 1967 team finished undefeated.
Coats amassed an overall head coaching record of 171-129-10. Orosi's football field is named after him.
Gambini established CVC as a small-school powerhouse in the early 2000s, leading the Cavaliers to three straight Central Section Division V championships (2003, 2004, 2005). That success catapulted Gambini to become the first head football coach in Mission Oak history when the Tulare high school opened in 2008.
With the Hawks, Gambini directed Mission Oak to three East Yosemite League championships (one outright, two shared) and won 49 games. The Hawks advanced to the Central Section postseason four times and played in the 2013 Central Section Division IV championship game. From 2011-14, the Hawks went a combined 40-10 while winning at least nine games each season.
Gambini wrapped up his head coaching career after the 2015 Mission Oak season, totaling an overall record of 100-41, including an impressive 51-10 mark at CVC.
Hughes raised the standards for Visalia football during his tenure.
Under his leadership, CVC became the first Visalia football team to win a CIF State championship. In 2023, the Cavaliers won the CIF State Division 2-AA title, defeating Los Gatos in the state championship game to cap off a 15-1 season. Those 15 wins are a Visalia city single-season record.
Hughes stepped down after that outstanding campaign, coaching his son, Tyler, in his final season, culminating his CVC coaching career with a 114-65 overall record. He began his coaching career at CVC in 2009.
More: Tulare County Boys Athlete of the Year — Tulare Union's Demaje Riley
CVC's rise under Hughes was remarkable, too. CVC went from a small-school team competing in the Division V playoffs into one of the section’s elite programs, regardless of division.
Excluding the COVID-19-impacted season, under Hughes, CVC played for a Central Section championship in six straight seasons while winning it all in 2018 (Division IV), 2021 (Division III) and 2023 (Division II).
Kelly put Redwood football on the map, building the Rangers into a Central Section powerhouse during his run from 1969-88.
Under his direction, Redwood won three Central Section Yosemite Division titles (1973, 1982, 1983). He was selected the Northern California high school coach of the year three times and was the national coach of the year in 1973 when Redwood capped a perfect 12-0 season.
Kelly went 148-72-2 at Redwood before going on to be the head coach at COS from 1989 to 2004. He died in 2019 at 78 years old.
During the 2016 high school football season, five Tulare County teams ran a variation of Kelly's pro-style offense.
Martin propelled Mission Oak to new heights in 2023.
In just his second season with Mission Oak, the Hawks captured their first Central Section championship in school history in 2023, winning a Division III crown during a 10-victory campaign.
That team also became the first Tulare squad to capture a state regional title when Mission Oak defeated Rio Hondo Prep to win the 2023 CIF State South Division 4-A Football Championship Regional Bowl Game.
The Hawks also became the first team in Tulare city history that season to play for a state championship.
At Mt. Whitney, from 2011-17, Martin won 32 games and the Pioneers advanced to the Central Section playoffs three times. Under Martin, Mt. Whitney also won three Cowhide games against rival Redwood.
Martin tallied head coaching career win No. 200 during the Hawks' historic 2023 season. As a Tulare County head coach, Martin has won 59 games.
Martin enters the 2026 season with an overall head coaching record of 215-154. He has also been the head coach at Christian High School (1984-89) and St. Augustine High School (1989-91) in San Diego, Capistrano Valley Christian (1992-96) in San Juan Capistrano, Village Christian (1996-2006) in Sun Valley, Clovis West (2007), and Kerman (2008-10).
The Central Section's all-time winningest head coach with an overall record of 290-129-11, Robinson guided the Tigers to six section titles (1972, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989) and 18 league championships. He was the Woodlake head coach from 1962 to 2002. He died in 2002 at age 67.
Robinson was inducted into the California State Hall of Fame that same year. The Tigers' football field is named after him.
The first head football coach in El Diamante history, Rogers created a winning culture immediately.
The Miners won their first playoff game in 2004 in their first year competing at the varsity level. Playing with no seniors that season, they defeated Arvin in the first round of the Central Section Division III postseason.
That was just a sign of things to come.
Rogers led El Diamante to its first Central Section championship in 2007, winning a Division II title in just their fourth varsity campaign. The Miners recaptured that magical moment again in 2013 as they claimed another Central Section Division II plaque that year.
In 15 seasons, with Rogers leading the way, El Diamante claimed a pair of Central Section Division II titles (2007, 2013) and eight West Yosemite League championships (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017). He retired in 2018 with an overall head coaching record of 110-60.
Groomed from the Kelly coaching tree, Scharton took over at his alma mater, Redwood, in 2019 after spending 17 seasons in Dinuba. During his time there, he guided the Emperors to nine league championships and two Central Section Division III championships (2009, 2013) while amassing a coaching record of 143-59.
His Dinuba teams played in five section championship games (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017)
With Redwood, Scharton coached the Rangers to an outright East Yosemite League title in 2022 with a perfect 5-0 record. He was the Rangers' head coach from 2019-24.
One of the winningest head coaches in Tulare County history, Scharton has an overall head coaching record of 175-82. He returned to Dinuba in 2025 and served as a varsity assistant. Over the course of his head coaching career, he averaged nearly eight wins per season.
White transformed Orosi into one of the top small-school programs in the section.
Before White arrived to lead the northern Tulare County school, the Cardinals' football team was unable to win more than six games in a single season from 2005-16. He quickly changed that around, though, behind a run-heavy approach on offense, guiding Orosi to eight victories in his first season in 2017. The following year, the Cardinals went 7-4 before posting a double-digit win season (10-4) with an appearance in the 2019 Central Section Division VI championship game.
The Cardinals also advanced to the 2025 Central Section Division VI championship game last season and have won at least 10 games in two of the past three years.
White picked up the 200th win of his coaching career in 2025 and enters this season with an overall record of 206-153. The Bay Area native has also coached at South San Francisco (1993-2001), Carlmont-Belmont (2002-04), Exeter (2005-13), and Capuchino-San Bruno (2014-16).
As the head coach of two Tulare County programs, White is a combined 126-80 at Exeter and Orosi. He won 63 games at Exeter.
More: Tulare County Girls Athlete of the Year — El D's Brooklyn Bawanan
Yavasile spent his entire head-coaching career at Redwood, from 1989 to 2010. Yavasile directed the Rangers to the Central Section Yosemite Division championship in 1996 — the last time a Tulare County program won a Valley title in the section's top bracket.
His success in the Cowhide game against Mt. Whitney was excellent. Yavasile-coached teams went a combined 19-3 in the Cowhide. The Rangers won 10 straight Cowhide games from 1990-99.
Yavasile retired after the 2010 season and also led the Rangers to seven West Yosemite League titles in the 1990s. They won a WYL championship in 2004, too.
Yavasile is the program's all-time winningest head coach with an overall record of 156-91-4.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Who is Tulare County's most influential football coaches? Here's our list
Continue reading...
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network will spotlight the roots of the country’s sports culture: the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities.
This month, we're honoring the head coaches who helped define the football landscape across the area. Here's a look at some of the top all-time high school football coaches in Tulare County history (listed in alphabetical order):
Darren Bennett, Tulare Union/Central Valley Christian
The Central Section's active winningest head coach, Bennett has set the gold standard during his reign, leading Tulare Union to five Central Section championships (1999, 2000, 2008, 2017, 2018) and 15 East Yosemite League titles (1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018).
Bennett enters the 2026 season, his 32nd overall, with a head coaching record of 257-131-1. He was the head coach at CVC from 1991-94. During that time, the former college quarterback helped turn the Cavaliers from an 8-man team into an 11-man squad.
Five of Bennett's former players went on to play in the NFL — running back/receiver Kazmeir Allen (Washington Commanders), tight end Virgil Green (Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers), offensive lineman Bryce Harris (New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons), receiver Marquess Wilson (Chicago Bears) and linebacker Zach Diles (Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns). Green won a Super Bowl ring with the Broncos in 2016.
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Jeromy Blackwell, Strathmore
Blackwell, a former College of the Sequoias and Fresno State fullback, was the first head coach to lead a Tulare County football program to a CIF State championship.
Strathmore became the first team within county lines to win a state title in 2017, capturing the CIF State Division 6-AA championship that season, punctuating a perfect 16-0 campaign. The Spartans' 16 wins that year set a new Central Section record for most victories in a single season.
Additionally, Blackwell's squads have won five Central Section Division VI crowns (2009, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023). Strathmore also became the first Tulare County football program to win two state titles when it claimed the 2023 CIF State Division 7-A crown.
In 25 seasons, all with Strathmore, Blackwell owns a head coaching overall record of 193-79.
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Charlie Casale, Mt. Whitney
Casale was the head coach at Mt. Whitney for 20 seasons (1975-87, 1993-1999).
His 1978 Pioneers' squad — which featured three players (Don Mosebar, Lupe Sanchez, Michael Young) who went on to play in the NFL — is considered one of the best teams in state history. That Pioneers' team won the Central Section Yosemite Division championship and went a perfect 13-0. The Pioneers' average margin of victory that season was more than 30 points.
Casale also directed Mt. Whitney to seven Cowhide victories. He has the most wins in Pioneers football history with an overall head coaching record of 143-69-2.
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Ed Coats, Orosi
During his time as the Orosi head coach (1965-96), Coats directed the Cardinals to four Central Section Sierra Division titles (1967, 1971, 1984, 1985). His 1967 team finished undefeated.
Coats amassed an overall head coaching record of 171-129-10. Orosi's football field is named after him.
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Mark Gambini, CVC/Mission Oak
Gambini established CVC as a small-school powerhouse in the early 2000s, leading the Cavaliers to three straight Central Section Division V championships (2003, 2004, 2005). That success catapulted Gambini to become the first head football coach in Mission Oak history when the Tulare high school opened in 2008.
With the Hawks, Gambini directed Mission Oak to three East Yosemite League championships (one outright, two shared) and won 49 games. The Hawks advanced to the Central Section postseason four times and played in the 2013 Central Section Division IV championship game. From 2011-14, the Hawks went a combined 40-10 while winning at least nine games each season.
Gambini wrapped up his head coaching career after the 2015 Mission Oak season, totaling an overall record of 100-41, including an impressive 51-10 mark at CVC.
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Mason Hughes, CVC
Hughes raised the standards for Visalia football during his tenure.
Under his leadership, CVC became the first Visalia football team to win a CIF State championship. In 2023, the Cavaliers won the CIF State Division 2-AA title, defeating Los Gatos in the state championship game to cap off a 15-1 season. Those 15 wins are a Visalia city single-season record.
Hughes stepped down after that outstanding campaign, coaching his son, Tyler, in his final season, culminating his CVC coaching career with a 114-65 overall record. He began his coaching career at CVC in 2009.
More: Tulare County Boys Athlete of the Year — Tulare Union's Demaje Riley
CVC's rise under Hughes was remarkable, too. CVC went from a small-school team competing in the Division V playoffs into one of the section’s elite programs, regardless of division.
Excluding the COVID-19-impacted season, under Hughes, CVC played for a Central Section championship in six straight seasons while winning it all in 2018 (Division IV), 2021 (Division III) and 2023 (Division II).
Roger Kelly, Redwood
Kelly put Redwood football on the map, building the Rangers into a Central Section powerhouse during his run from 1969-88.
Under his direction, Redwood won three Central Section Yosemite Division titles (1973, 1982, 1983). He was selected the Northern California high school coach of the year three times and was the national coach of the year in 1973 when Redwood capped a perfect 12-0 season.
Kelly went 148-72-2 at Redwood before going on to be the head coach at COS from 1989 to 2004. He died in 2019 at 78 years old.
During the 2016 high school football season, five Tulare County teams ran a variation of Kelly's pro-style offense.
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Marty Martin, Mt. Whitney/Mission Oak
Martin propelled Mission Oak to new heights in 2023.
In just his second season with Mission Oak, the Hawks captured their first Central Section championship in school history in 2023, winning a Division III crown during a 10-victory campaign.
That team also became the first Tulare squad to capture a state regional title when Mission Oak defeated Rio Hondo Prep to win the 2023 CIF State South Division 4-A Football Championship Regional Bowl Game.
The Hawks also became the first team in Tulare city history that season to play for a state championship.
At Mt. Whitney, from 2011-17, Martin won 32 games and the Pioneers advanced to the Central Section playoffs three times. Under Martin, Mt. Whitney also won three Cowhide games against rival Redwood.
Martin tallied head coaching career win No. 200 during the Hawks' historic 2023 season. As a Tulare County head coach, Martin has won 59 games.
Martin enters the 2026 season with an overall head coaching record of 215-154. He has also been the head coach at Christian High School (1984-89) and St. Augustine High School (1989-91) in San Diego, Capistrano Valley Christian (1992-96) in San Juan Capistrano, Village Christian (1996-2006) in Sun Valley, Clovis West (2007), and Kerman (2008-10).
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Leo Robinson, Woodlake
The Central Section's all-time winningest head coach with an overall record of 290-129-11, Robinson guided the Tigers to six section titles (1972, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989) and 18 league championships. He was the Woodlake head coach from 1962 to 2002. He died in 2002 at age 67.
Robinson was inducted into the California State Hall of Fame that same year. The Tigers' football field is named after him.
Mark Rogers, El Diamante
The first head football coach in El Diamante history, Rogers created a winning culture immediately.
The Miners won their first playoff game in 2004 in their first year competing at the varsity level. Playing with no seniors that season, they defeated Arvin in the first round of the Central Section Division III postseason.
That was just a sign of things to come.
Rogers led El Diamante to its first Central Section championship in 2007, winning a Division II title in just their fourth varsity campaign. The Miners recaptured that magical moment again in 2013 as they claimed another Central Section Division II plaque that year.
In 15 seasons, with Rogers leading the way, El Diamante claimed a pair of Central Section Division II titles (2007, 2013) and eight West Yosemite League championships (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017). He retired in 2018 with an overall head coaching record of 110-60.
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Kevin Scharton, Dinuba/Redwood
Groomed from the Kelly coaching tree, Scharton took over at his alma mater, Redwood, in 2019 after spending 17 seasons in Dinuba. During his time there, he guided the Emperors to nine league championships and two Central Section Division III championships (2009, 2013) while amassing a coaching record of 143-59.
His Dinuba teams played in five section championship games (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017)
With Redwood, Scharton coached the Rangers to an outright East Yosemite League title in 2022 with a perfect 5-0 record. He was the Rangers' head coach from 2019-24.
One of the winningest head coaches in Tulare County history, Scharton has an overall head coaching record of 175-82. He returned to Dinuba in 2025 and served as a varsity assistant. Over the course of his head coaching career, he averaged nearly eight wins per season.
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Ben White, Exeter/Orosi
White transformed Orosi into one of the top small-school programs in the section.
Before White arrived to lead the northern Tulare County school, the Cardinals' football team was unable to win more than six games in a single season from 2005-16. He quickly changed that around, though, behind a run-heavy approach on offense, guiding Orosi to eight victories in his first season in 2017. The following year, the Cardinals went 7-4 before posting a double-digit win season (10-4) with an appearance in the 2019 Central Section Division VI championship game.
The Cardinals also advanced to the 2025 Central Section Division VI championship game last season and have won at least 10 games in two of the past three years.
White picked up the 200th win of his coaching career in 2025 and enters this season with an overall record of 206-153. The Bay Area native has also coached at South San Francisco (1993-2001), Carlmont-Belmont (2002-04), Exeter (2005-13), and Capuchino-San Bruno (2014-16).
As the head coach of two Tulare County programs, White is a combined 126-80 at Exeter and Orosi. He won 63 games at Exeter.
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More: Tulare County Girls Athlete of the Year — El D's Brooklyn Bawanan
John Yavasile, Redwood
Yavasile spent his entire head-coaching career at Redwood, from 1989 to 2010. Yavasile directed the Rangers to the Central Section Yosemite Division championship in 1996 — the last time a Tulare County program won a Valley title in the section's top bracket.
His success in the Cowhide game against Mt. Whitney was excellent. Yavasile-coached teams went a combined 19-3 in the Cowhide. The Rangers won 10 straight Cowhide games from 1990-99.
Yavasile retired after the 2010 season and also led the Rangers to seven West Yosemite League titles in the 1990s. They won a WYL championship in 2004, too.
Yavasile is the program's all-time winningest head coach with an overall record of 156-91-4.
Honorable mentions
- Larry Allred, Exeter: The coach of the Monarchs' only section championship team, he guided Exeter to an 11-0 record in 1970. That team won the Sierra Division Valley championship and the East Sierra League title.
- Marcus Alonzo, Lindsay: The youngest head coach on this list, Alonzo is entering just his third season as a head coach this fall, but has already built quite the resume. In 2024, as a rookie head coach, he led a 10-win Cardinals' squad to the Central Section Division VI title. They also captured the 2024 CIF State Division 7-AA SoCal Regional crown to advance to the state title game, becoming just the fifth Tulare County program to play for a state championship.
- Robert Dougherty, Mt. Whitney: A former record-setting Pioneers' quarterback, Dougherty was also an outstanding coach who led Mt. Whitney to a Central Section Division II championship in 2006. He would later become the COS head football coach and was the head football coach this past season at Morro Bay High School.
- Del Jones, Tulare Union: Jones, a former Tribe running back, led Tulare Union to its first section title in 1986, guiding his team to the Central Section Yosemite Division championship. Tulare Union's on-campus weight room is named after Jones.
- Paul Preheim, Golden West: Preheim changed the football culture at the northeast Visalia campus in the 2010s, leading the Trailblazers to their first Central Section championship, a Division IV crown, in 2017. Golden West became the first Visalia team in the city's history that same season to win a state regional championship and play for a state title.
- Ryan Rocha, Tulare Western: The winningest head coach in Mustangs' history, he led Tulare Western to three section championship games (2016, 2017, 2019) in eight seasons. He culminated his coaching career at his alma mater after the COVID-impacted 2021 spring season with a 67-24 overall record, three Bell Game victories (2013, 2015, 2019), and two EYL crowns (2015, 2019). He now coaches high school football in North Carolina, where, under his leadership in 2025, the High Point Christian Academy Cougars won a state championship with a perfect 12-0 record.
- Frank Shiro, Lindsay: Shiro was the head coach of the Cardinals' back-to-back Central Section Sierra Division championship teams in 1987 and 1988. The 1987 section title was shared with Woodlake.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Who is Tulare County's most influential football coaches? Here's our list
Continue reading...
