Nate Mendoza, who guided the Dos Pueblos football team to a CIF-Southern Section Division 10 runner-up finish this past fall, has resigned as football coach, the school announced Friday.
Mendoza served as the head coach for six seasons. He leaves with an overall record of 36-31, with three Channel League championships and the CIF-SS runner-up finish. The team won a school-record 12 straight games this past season en route to the Division 10 final. The Chargers lost a heartbreaker against Quartz Hill, 26-21, coming inches short of scoring the winning touchdown on the last play of the game.
Mendoza will remain at the school and continue in his current position as Dean of Students.
“I’m extremely proud of the impact Nate had on our football program,” DP Principal Bill Woodard said in a statement. “His charisma, passion, dedication and commitment to our student athletes led to tremendous success both on and off the field, culiminating with this year’s memorable run to the CIF championship game.
“Nate is a natural leader who will continue to have a tremendous impact on our students here at DPHS in his role as Dean of Students.”
Dan Feldhaus, DP’s athletic director, thanked Mendoza for his years of service to the students and athletic department.
“As head football coach, Nate focused on developing his players not only as athletes, but as strong citizens and leaders in their families and community,” Feldhaus said in a statement. “Having a son (Josh) that played football under Nate, I personally witnessed the positive influence that coach Mendoza had on his athletes — and DP is a better place because of it.”
Woodard said the process of finding a new coach will begin immediately.
A possible candidate is Doug Caines, who was the head coach at Santa Barbara High before coming over to Dos Pueblos to be Mendoza’s defensive coordinator three years ago. He is also a teacher on campus.
Mendoza took the reins of the football program from Jeff Uyesaka in 2012 after serving as an assistant and defensive coordinator on Uyesaka’s staff from 2008-11. He was the defensive coordinator for a Channel League championship team in 2010, which was the school’s first league title since 1979.
Mendoza and his coaching staff were awarded Channel League Coaching Staff of the Year in 2012, 2016 and 2017. He was named South County Coach of the Year in 2016.
During his six years as head coach, he’s had 11 student-athletes sign letters of intent to play college football.
Mendoza also served as head baseball coach at DP, leading the Chargers to two Channel League titles (2009, 2012) while making the CIF playoffs all four seasons. He was named Channel League Baseball Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2012.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.