Marcel Lopez, who is in his second year as the head football coach at Bourgade Catholic, is looking to establish a winning mentality as well as develop his athletes into adults.  He strives to be a well-rounded coach, who can produce more than just wins on the football field.

“You have to be well-rounded,” Lopez said.  “If you only focus on the X’s and O’s you miss out on so many opportunities to form these young men, and if you just focus on the leadership part and you’re not winning, then you’re not going to be a coach for too long.”

Brandon Valenzuela, a senior guard and defensive tackle, speaks very fondly of Lopez.  This is his first year with Lopez as his head coach, and he explained the qualities that Lopez has that some of his previous coaches did not  have.

“Whatever problem we have, he’s there and he’s able to fix it, when a lot of the coaches I’ve had would just yell at us,” Valenzuela said.  “I think that’s a massive trait because there’s a lot of coaches that get frustrated and get mad because we’re losing, or we’re down, or we miss a tackle and make us do conditioning.  But with this coach, he helps us fix it and helps us get better.”

Lopez, a native of Arizona, dreamed of playing high school football at St. Mary’s, and did so for all four years there.  He ended up coaching there when he got older, and in 2015, was selected as the interim head coach after the program parted ways with Coach Todd Williamson just before the season began.

He played for legendary high school coach Tom Farrell, a four-time state champion.  Lopez credits Farrell as a major influence on his coaching, and the rest of the Bourgade staff’s coaching as well.

“When I started playing high school football, I had the privilege of playing under one of the greatest coaches in Arizona high school football history; coach Pat Farrell,” Lopez said.  “We have 10 coaches here at our program that are St. Mary’s alumni; nine of us played under coach Farrell.  So much of what we do as coaches comes from the leadership that we got to witness every day in practice.”  

Louie Lopez is a junior quarterback who has played for Coach Lopez in the past, and like Valenzuela, appreciates his way of communicating with players.

“I like Coach Lopez because he speaks to us and lets us know what we are doing wrong, and how we can fix our mistakes,” Louie Lopez said.

These players’ words are evident at Bourgade practices.  At their last practice before they dominated Kingman Academy Friday night, the team ran many game-like situations from offensive sets, to converting a PAT, to getting both sides of the ball on the field at the same time.  During the whole process, and especially when the defense got out there, Coach Lopez always had feedback for the players after every play.

He is working to make strides toward improving the program, but also toward helping his athletes grow as young adults.

“Outside of the X’s and O’s, and the game plan and everything else, I want these players to be good Christian young men,” said Coach Lopez.

Bourgade, which has won its past four games after losing its season opener, will host Gilbert Christian on Friday.