Dale Perizzolo was named interim head football coach at San Marcos.
Dale Perizzolo doesn’t believe “difficult” is the correct word to use when asked about making the decision to take the reins of the San Marcos football program following the passing of Jeff Hesselmeyer.
Instead, he says, “it is a privilege to be considered for the position and an honor to be chosen as the interim head coach.”
Perizzolo on Tuesday was named to fill the position Hesselmeyer held for the last two seasons, San Marcos Athletic Director Abe Jahadhmy announced.
Perizzolo, 27, was the defensive coordinator under Hesselmeyer. A 2002 San Marcos graduate, he’s worked as an assistant football coach at the school since 2005 and has also coached wrestling.
Perizzolo said he’s picking up where Hesselmeyer left things.
“Coach Hess had so much already in place that he left the program in good shape, which will help make the transition go smoothly,” he said.
He plans to continue the same offensive and defensive schemes Hess put in place.
“We will be maintaining the same offense and defense packages that we had in place and continue with the adjustments that we had planned,” Perizzolo said.
Perizzolo has coached football since graduating from high school.
“When I graduated from San Marcos in 2002 I coached for two years with our local YFL program before making the move to the high school,” he said. “Since then I have coached the freshman, sophomore and varsity levels, mostly specializing in defense and the offensive line.”
He knows all the players and coaches on the varsity.
“I have coached with every person on the staff for multiple years and I have coached both the junior and senior class at the lower levels,” he said.
Perizzolo is not an on-campus coach. He works as a health insurance agent for Stevens & Associates — “Coach Ray Stevens is the freshman coach and got me into coaching at the YFL level,” he said.
Perizzolo said he will be on campus during the fourth period football class.
“Dale was always a more mature kid, and a down-to-earth kid,” said Stevens. “Right after he finished high school I asked him to coach a YFL team. That’s kind of unusual for someone that age. Most kids are not mature enough. He’s done real well. He’s been real focused on that.”
Stevens said the varsity job will be a handful, but he’s confident Perizzolo can handle it.
“Dale has an extreme amount of passion for it, and I think he’ll do real well. He enjoys coaching football and seeing kids progress.”
Asked about the attitude of the players going into preseason practice, Perizzolo said they’re fired up and ready to go.
“They are excited, very excited. They are ready to implement what a great coach has taught them.”
Perizzolo and the Royals begin practice on Thursday afternoon.
