After a disappointing 1–9 season last year, head coach Henry Browne and the Mesa College Olympians football team are looking forward to a vast improvement this upcoming fall.

After an appearance in the 2008 National Bowl against Fullerton College and being ranked no. 13 in the final poll of the California Community College Assessment Association, the team took a turn for the worse.

In 2009, the Olympians went 2–8, and then followed up with the aforementioned 1–9 record in 2010.

Now Mesa College is looking for a bounce back year after two years of futility.  There is much improvement needed to succeed though.

Two big improvements for the team come in the addition of a new offensive and defensive coordinator.  The pair are considered to be “San Diego Legends” by some.

New offensive coordinator, Dave Lay, has a long history of success with multiple coaching at both Colorado State and San Diego State University.  Quite possibly his most memorable pupil would be former SDSU Aztec, Marshall Faulk; 766 carries, 4589 Yards, for a 6.0 yards per carry average, with 57 touchdowns (rushing numbers) while under the tutelage of coach Lay.

Former Lincoln High School head coach Ron Hamamoto, guided the Hornets to a San Diego Section Division III runner up conclusion and a 25–22–1 overall record. Hamamoto was the guy hired in 2007 to coach the legendary high school after being shut down for four years.

Prior to coaching Lincoln High, Hamamato coached at two other high schools. In 2001, he took Rancho Bernando to the California Interscholastic Federation Division I finals, and was their head coach for 11 years. He also coached at Cathedral Catholic, even winning the Division III title in 1994.  Coach Hamamoto stepped down in January to take on the task of the Olympians defensive coordinator.

With the addition of the legendary San Diego coaches, the players have been progressing very nicely according to the head coach. “Some of our returning players have improved (vastly since the end of the season).”

“We had a rough (patch), but have had a very good spring (up to this point),” said coach Browne.

One of the most improved aspects of the team that coach Browne raved about was the offensive line.  “We like to have a 50/50 average in pass/run plays, but last year we were a run heavy team at a nearly 60/40 pace,” said Browne.  When he talked about the line he made notice of four of his starters: freshmen Sal Esquivias and Frederico Osuna; and sophomores German Romero and Gilbert Navarro.

The team has many interesting pieces this year.  Several players come from major NCAA programs, one player never lost a game in high school, while an incoming players’ brother was just drafted in the 2011 National Football League Draft.

There are a total of four returning players that were formerly on mid–to–high level programs in the NCAA: Candon Canady is a defensive lineman that originally attended Northern

Arizona University; Linebacker and long snapper Brandon Carrick attended the University of Charleston; second year starting quarterback Matt Neault went to SDSU; and finally, Micah Young went to the University of Hawaii.