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EDITOR’S NOTE: Herald sports writer John Devine is spending most of this month visiting Monterey County schools to get a sneak peek of their football teams. This and other previews will be available at www.montereyherald.com.
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SALINAS – Despite improvement in the win column in each of the past three seasons, Alvarez High embarks on this football season with its fourth different head coach in six years. The past three lasted just two seasons.
“It’s rough going from coach to coach each year, changing the playbook and how the defense is run,” four-year starting defensive back Jayden Ward said. “This is my third coach. You just have to get through it and do what you can to help the team.”
Stability has become an issue for Alvarez, as this year’s senior class — those who remain — will be learning their third system under new coach Jason Chacon.
“I’d like to pick up the tempo,” Chacon said. “But when you’re coaching from ground zero, you have to go at a pace where kids can retain information. There are no shortcuts.”
The summer was a reality check for Chacon, as the process of changing the culture and getting players to buy into a new vision has had its challenges.
“It’s been a big blur,” Chacon said. “It’s been hard to get kids to understand the importance of the weight room. Looking at film, and I watched all 10 games, they got bullied a lot last year. We need to be unified.”
Part of the overhaul for Chacon was bringing in eight coaches who have had previous ties to the football program, either as a player or coach.
“It’s a mature coaching staff,” Chacon said. “The staff relates well to the kids. That’s helped in the transition of getting kids to buy into our philosophies and culture.”
Those philosophies include erasing a reputation for being undisciplined. During a league meeting, Alvarez was reminded that it had the most ejections of any program last year.
“Penalties were a big thing,” insisted Ward, who has been recruited by Dartmouth and Brown of the Ivy League . “We had 12 touchdowns called back last year. No question, it was a lack of discipline. I’m hoping these coaches and players understand that.”
Having had coaching stints at Rancho San Juan and Alisal, Chacon has brought in a completely new offensive game plan, albeit at a scaled-down version.
“The playbook is a lot smaller than what I’m used to having,” Chacon said. “Simplifying it has made it easier for the kids. We want them playing fast and having expectations.”
While Alvarez improved in the win column a third straight year and produced its first winning season in 10 years, it’s been a decade since it last reached the postseason.
The Eagles started well last season, going 5-1 over their first six games before dropping two of their last three to fall out of playoff contention.
What was an Achilles’ heel was a lack of discipline. Ward had nine touchdowns called back because of penalties, as Alvarez was the most penalized team in the Pacific Coast Athletic League.
“That has to change,” Chacon said. “We’ve challenged these kids to play a clean game. We have a prideful group. But we need to cut back on the chirping. Let’s just execute and do your job.”
Discipline was preached throughout the summer, and even into the first two weeks of the season as Chacon attempts to get Alvarez to play with a different mindset.
“We need to clean up the bad plays,” Chacon said. “We’ll make mistakes. But penalties need to be addressed. We need to understand that’s not who we are. We’re not trying to hit a home run on every play. A play designed to get 4 tough yards is a great play.”
Dropped to the Mission Division South last year, Alvarez is now in a division where the vibe is that it can contend for supremacy in a balanced division. Getting out of neutral has been a thorn in the program’s side for a decade.
“This isn’t a rebuild,” Chacon said. “Not at all. I’m here to get them back to their winning ways. I know it’s been a while. But the playoffs are the goal – make some noise once we get there.”
The concern Chacon felt in the early part of the summer was whether the players were completely buying in. Using a grading chart, there were a few ‘Cs’ and even a ‘D’ after a 7-on-7 event.
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“At times I didn’t see the energy,” Chacon said. “I don’t want to put too much emphasis into 7s. But I came home after one practice during the summer and said ‘these kids have some dawg in them.’ That’s what I’m looking for.”
What Alvarez has this fall is arguably one of the more exciting players in the PCAL in Ward, an all-county defensive back, who is going to become a big part of the team’s attack on offense.
Ward, whose name is on several colleges’ wish lists, is a lockdown cornerback with receiver-like skills, which are expected to be on display this season in the Eagles’ revamped offense.
“I should be getting a lot more touches,” said Ward, who Chacon lined up all over the field during a recent practice. “Hopefully there is a 1,000-yard receiving season in me.”
That has never been accomplished in the program’s 31 seasons.
“We’re going to rely heavily on Jaylen,” Chacon said. “He is going to get fed. I could see his totals doubling, maybe tripling this season.”
As dominant of a run team as Alvarez was last year, Ward still caught 30 passes, averaging 20 yards a catch. Defensively, he recorded 82 tackles and intercepted four passes.
Chacon’s vision of a more balanced attack starts with quarterback Alejandro Esquivel-Manzo, who is coming off a season in which he threw for over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“We’re trying to work to his strengths,” Chacon said. “Alejandro is a very mobile kid. We’re going to try and use his legs a lot more. He’s gotten into the weight room. He has chemistry with Jaylen.”
The 5-foot-10 Esquivel-Manzo has picked up the offense, where Ward and Aaron Cortez are both burners on the outside.
“Aaron will take some pressure off of Jaylen,” insisted Chacon. “In 7s, every time Jaylen was in motion, the entire defense was moving. Aaron had a great summer.”
So did Isaac Rivera, who came up as a sophomore last year, earning his carries in the second half of the season. The 225-pounder was unstoppable during a recent practice, shedding defenders, while Dominic Longoria provides a change of pace tailback.
“I felt the intensity was a little lower in the off-season,” Ward said. “A lot of these guys have been rolling with the same coach for the last two years. What I’ve seen of late is guys picking it back up.”
As Chacon implements his offense and pieces together his puzzle, the return of Evan Guerrero and Jeremy Leon-Candido solidifies the offensive line.
A punishing run blocker, Guerrero will call the line signals as the Eagles’ center, while Leon-Candido will be asked to protect the quarterback’s blind side.
“The defensive side will have some similarities to last year,” Chacon said. “But our offense is a complete overhaul. We believe we have the personnel to be a balanced team.”
As dynamic as Alvarez’s defense was in the first half of the season, allowing just 28 points during its five-game winning streak, it gave up 112 points in its last three losses.
“When I watched film, I started from their last games because that’s what I felt I would be dealing with,” Chacon said. “I saw a lot of differences in personnel. They seemed to use a lot of youth, which is a plus for me. There are a lot of things we can clean up.”
The return of Longoria as a linebacker gives Alvarez a playmaker on defense who averaged eight-plus tackles in five games last year, adding an interception and fumble recovery.
Jacob Gomez will move from strong safety to linebacker to take advantage of his physicality and experience, having collected 10 or more tackles in two games last season.
Leon-Candido is a candidate to see time as a defensive end as well, as Alvarez will look to take advantage of his athleticism and agility, while Esquivel-Manzo will start at safety.
“I’ve seen it start to come around on a more consistent basis,” Chacon said. “I’m excited with the direction we’re headed. It’s not my way or the highway. I’m big into input. I’m not a big yeller. I don’t like to cuss. We have to work as a unit and be unified.”
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Alvarez football schedule
Aug. 28: Alisal, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 4: Hollister, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 10: St. Francis, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 17: Monte Vista, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 25: at Aptos, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 2: Pacific Grove, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 9: at King City, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 16: Bye.
Oct. 23: at North County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 30: Stevenson, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 5: at Soledad, 7:30 p.m.
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This story was originally published August 17, 2026 at 3:09 PM.