Janaé Bradford is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism graduate student assigned to cover Bourgade Catholic High School for AZPreps365.com.

Bourgade Catholic football practices resemble a family reunion.

There’s coach Abel Navarrete’s 4-year-old son running around with his iPad and playing with the managers. While the kid’s laughter fills the air, there’s coach Humberto Trujillo yelling at his sons for messing up on a play. 

On the other end of the field, three former high school teammates who never thought they would coach together are on the staff for their high school coach, Marcel Lopez.

Success doesn't dictate their love for the game at Bourgade. Finishing 3-6 for this season wasn’t ideal, but playing with family added a level of gratitude. For Lopez and his staff, losing games will sting, but the memories they share on and off the field will last forever.

Out of the nine coaches, Lopez used to coach five of them at either St. Mary’s Catholic High School or Bourgade. Another coach has been on Lopez’s staff for nearly a decade. 

Lopez, Humberto Trujillo and Andy Fernandez each have over 15 years of coaching experience, while two of Lopez’s former players are coaching for the first time. 

The level of respect Lopez has in the Phoenix football community exceeds normality, because it didn’t take much convincing to encourage the guys to come coach with him.

“I’ve always tracked his career as a player and coach,” Trujillo said. “I mean, he’s the cousin we looked up to. He was that guy at St. Mary’s. With him being my cousin, he always looked out for me, and let me hang out with the other guys.”

Lopez and Humberto Trujillo went to St. Agnes Catholic School and St. Mary’s together, and their fathers are best friends. 

Humberto Trujillo used to coach at the elementary level before joining forces with his lifelong best friend for the first time in their careers. His oldest son played at Bourgade two years ago and his middle son, Cooper Trujillo, just finished his high school career playing quarterback on varsity. 

When his youngest son, Tyson Trujillo, graduated from eighth grade, it made sense to send Tyson to Bourgade for a good education and to coach him.

The multiple relationship ties on the St. Mary’s and Bourgade teams show just how small the Phoenix football community is. 

Abel Navarette and his best friend Clinton Harrington met Lopez in the classroom before on the field. Lopez received his bachelor’s in English literature and taught at NFL Yet Academy before getting the opportunity to teach and coach at his alma mater.

Lopez won a state championship as a St. Mary’s running back in the late 1990s and coached the team that made it back to the playoffs for the first time since he did. 

“Being able to see him go from an alumni to getting to wear these gold pants we get the chance to wear if you make the playoffs,” Navarette said. “It was cool in a way to show him that the younger guys could make it back. It was like a 10-12 year span of when the last playoff team made it.”

There was a four-year gap between Navarette and Harrington graduating and receiving the coaching offers. Harrington had thoughts about coaching, but never pursued it until Lopez asked Navarette to bring him to practice. Two practices later, Lopez appointed Harrington as his receiver’s coach.

“Not only was he my teacher and my coach but he was a mentor,” Harrington said. “He was someone I looked to for guidance in high school, because I had a rough time. Coach Lopez really helped me in the tougher times find who I was. Now, I just want to help build his legacy and bring a winning program.”

Varsity offensive coordinator Noah Mayers met Lopez on the field when Mayers played quarterback and Lopez was the freshman offensive coordinator. They united at Bourgade when Mayers transferred his junior year, and Lopez took the head coach position the following year.

“I loved the challenge,” Lopez said. “It wasn’t a football school by any means, but I knew a lot of kids that came through here and I wanted the challenge. When I came in, they were 2-8 the year before and I just thought ‘Alright, let’s bring it home.’”

Home for Lopez is the football field. Bringing together men that know his family and coaching style was imperative in the image he wanted to create with the football program. 

Just how Humberto Trujillo’s kids are embedded in Bourgade football, so is everyone else’s family. Lopez’s kids are 9 and 6, so the entire program has watched his kids grow up. 

The bonds created hold a special place in the hearts of the coaches. It means more to them to have players that admire them and fellow coaches that trust them.

This is why football alumni frequently stop by Lopez’s practices and games years after they graduate to pay respect to a man that is more than a coach for hundreds of young men. 

“You always go back to your roots,” Mayers said. “They’re always huge, especially if you go back and truly look at yourself and be grateful for the people that have helped you get where you’re at.”