By admin 
The high school football lifers will tell you that coaching becomes a way of life, and they stick in it because of the many rewards it offers, never mind the pitfalls and scrutiny of the role.
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For many coaches in the Sacramento area that teach blocking and tackling and life lessons, this is how they spend their weekends. They don’t golf more than they break down game film. They don’t travel much, unless it’s to squeeze out a family vacation or to check out a coaching seminar. They don’t fish much if at all, and they don’t gamble, unless it’s fourth and goal with time running out and a playoff berth on the line.
The region has three active 200-game winners in Terry Stark of the Antelope Titans near the Placer County line, Casey Taylor of the Oak Ridge Trojans of El Dorado Hills, and Joe Cattolico of the Granite Bay Grizzlies of Placer County.
None of these coaches won all of their games at one stop. As lifers, they have enjoyed necessary fresh challenges in a new part of town or an entirely different town. They remain in the grind as a fraternity, with Taylor explaining recently, “Only football coaches can understand with football coaches go through.”
The active 200-win club
Stark is a 231-game winner, doing his work at his alma mater of Mira Loma, then at Natomas and mostly at Inderkum in Sacramento. He stepped away following the 2018 season to heal his broken-down body — bad knees, sore back, bum shoulder — and was ready to reboot at Foothill and Marysville before calling an audible of sorts.
Now he’s teaching the throwback, run-heavy Wing-T offense at Antelope, a sleeping giant program with a giant of a coach. And Stark reminds that he does not golf, fish, travel or gamble, which explains why he is back in coaching for the first time since in nine years.
Taylor is sitting on 221 victories entering this season, having won the bulk of those games at Del Oro in Placer County, where he won 149 games, six CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championships and a CIF State crown in 2015. He is in his sixth season at Oak Ridge, having reached the last four section Division I championship games.
Taylor has long maintained that “football is a vehicle for life,” a way to inspire teenagers who need direction. Taylor urges younger men, in their 20s and 30s, to get into coaching, to carry the torch for those in their 50s and 60s, to give this sport what it gave them.
One might ask if kids need direction in community-based schools such as Del Oro or in affluent regions such as Granite Bay or El Dorado Hills, where high school sports are part of the community fabric. The answer is yes. Kids from all over the region — in the city, in the foothills, in the suburbs — need direction. Some come from broken homes. Some deal with mental health concerns.
Cattolico won his 200th game last season, with previous stops in San Jose, the Elk Grove Unified School District and Roseville. He is in his sixth season with Granite Bay, having reached two section title games, including last season against St. Mary’s of Stockton, coached by Tony Franks, another 200-game winner.
Cattolico grew up around football. His father Butch Cattolico has been the greatest influence of his life. Butch was a 264-game winner at Los Gatos High in Santa Clara County. The younger Cattolico graduated from Princeton and knew how to play his cards right when he got into coaching in the Sacramento region: He invited and implored his father to help him coach, and he remains in that role.
Coaching remains a joy, Cattolico said, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy gig. Parents and booster are increasingly difficult to please. Everyone has an opinion on social media, including current students or rival players. In this sport, you’re as good as your last game, and losses inspire the grumps to raise their voices.
“I never wanted to be anything but a high school football coach,” Cattolico said during the National Football Foundation’s annual football kickoff brunch at the Dante Club last Sunday. “This job is harder, in my estimation, than it’s ever been, for a variety of reasons. It’s harder, but it’s more important than it’s ever been.
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“The young men in our communities need us now and need football more than ever. I try to remind myself of that when we’re tired, and we’re taking some of the slings and arrows that we take nowadays.”
Football also provides gifts beyond victory, Cattolico and others say. They create bonds and relationships to last a lifetime.
“I was thinking the other day: I have three groups of friends in this life outside my family,” Cattolico said. “One of them is guys I grew up with, went to high school with. The second group are those I met in college. The third group of friends I have is people I know through football.
“My point is, outside of football, I probably haven’t made a friend since I was 22 years old.”
The winningest coach in section history is Roger Canepa with 296 entering this season. A head coach in the southern part of the section since 1990, the spirited and hilarious Canepa has headed Central Catholic of Modesto since 2008 with no visions of stepping down.
The winningest coach in Sacramento-area history and second all-time in section history is Mike Alberghini of the Grant Pacers with 282. The famed coach died at 78 in 2025, his legacy ongoing. His one-time team captains and leaders in Carl Reed and Syd Thompson have carried on his tradition of success, including winning three CIF section and CIF Northern California championships in recent years with a CIF state crown.
Who’s closing in on 200?
Marlon Blanton of Jesuit has 187 victories, 104 of those with the Marauders. The foundation of his success is fostering a sense of brotherhood and a sound running game.
Joey Montoya of the Placer Hillmen in Auburn has 184 victories, including when he started the varsity program from scratch and new Pioneer High in Woodland. He is in his 20th season at his alma mater, and, despite the graying hair, he can still outrun some players in drills, at least the linemen.
Chris Horner is in his 27th year at Casa Roble in Orangevale, seeking a fourth successive trip to a section final. He is in his 10th season as varsity head coach with the Rams, doubling as the girls flag football coach. He can’t get enough. He has no idea how many victories he has. Horner is in it to do his part, including an open-door policy to his class to talk schematics or real life.
“I’ve got 10 more years to go,” Horner said. “And then Joe Cattolico and I are going to go off in the sunset to coach freshman football somewhere.”
Freshman football, where it’s still teaching blocking and tackling, only without slings and arrows coming their way.
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