Longtime Santa Barbara assistant football coach Jaime Melgoza has been named the school’s next head coach, it was announced Monday afternoon, and will replace Will Gonzales on the Dons’ sidelines starting this fall.
Melgoza, a Santa Barbara graduate in 1982 who was a teammate of NFL great Randall Cunningham as a Don, takes over a program that reached the playoffs for the second-straight year last season but loses senior playmakers Bryson Lloyd, Roberto Nelson and quarterback John Uribe.
Melgoza learned of the decision around lunchtime and says it was a dream come true.
“This is exciting. This is something that I’ve always wanted since I was a little kid,” shared Melgoza while being introduced as the new head coach. “I always wanted to be a coach for Santa Barbara High School and now I got the dream. I guess it came true.”
Santa Barbara opens its 2009 schedule on Sept. 11 against Oxnard.
