In the end, friendship won out over everything. San Mateo football coach T.J. Ewing and offensive coordinator Rick Arcuri are leaving the Bearcats to take over the football and athletic program at Monterey Trail High School in Elk Grove, a brand-new school in the Sacramento suburbs. Arcuri was hired in August as the school’s first athletic director and one of his first hires was his best friend Ewing. “I was willing to stay as long as coach Arcuri stayed,” Ewing said. Arcuri, who has taught at Peninsula High School, the district’s alternative school, for the past five years and has served and worked with Ewing as the Bearcats’ offensive coordinator since Ewing took over the Bearcats five years ago. The two had always talked about coaching together for as long as possible. But as Arcuri yearned for a teaching spot at San Mateo, it became apparent that he would have to leave the district if he wanted to chase the American dream – having a job he loves and buying a house. “It was kind of a timing thing,” Arcuri said. “If a job at San Mateo would have opened up a year or two earlier, that might have been enough to supercede the other things. A couple of years ago, that might have been enough to keep us here. “But as we got older, I got married, had a baby. I wanted to buy a house and all those things. Last year, I started looking around (for other opportunities).” Arcuri said he believes the school district needs to do more to keep quality teachers – who also double as coaches – in the area. He said there is a trend to hiring off-campus coaches at a number of schools. On the flip side, however, there are many schools that have several on-campus coaches. “We were frustrated at the fact that our school district doesn’t seem to be putting the commitment forward to recognize the importance of on-campus coaches,” Arcuri said. “I know there are budget constraints. The powers-that-be seemed to not recognize that for whatever reason. In the Sacramento area, they recognize that and they want that.” After Arcuri was hired at Monterey Trail, the school began immediately began looking for a football coach. Arcuri told Ewing about the opportunity, he interviewed for the position and was given the job just after the Bearcats won the Central Coast Section Division III title. In fact, Ewing was going through the final stages of interviewing while the team was in the playoffs. “I found out from a parent the night after he told the kids,” said San Mateo athletic director Steven Kryger. “It wasn’t a complete surprise. [Ewing] talked in the past about him and Rick going up to the Sacramento area. The ability to build your own program from scratch is certainly an attractive thing.” As Ewing struggled with the decision to stay or go, he sought out the advice of several people, including his coach at College of San Mateo Larry Owens. “[Owens] is a big mentor for me,” Ewing said. “He told me kids are going to be everywhere and you love every kid, but things go on.” Once Ewing decided to follow his heart and his childhood friend to Elk Grove, Ewing’s next biggest challenge was telling his team. After taking over a team that had gone 1-19 in the two seasons before Ewing came to San Mateo, Ewing and the Bearcats’ coaching staff improved the team every year going 3-7, 4-5-1, 5-4, 7-4 and 11-2 this season. The last two years the Bearcats qualified for CCS and this season they won it all. Again, Ewing turned to people he trusts to discuss the best way to go about telling the team. Ewing called his record-setting running back, Toke Kefu, and asked him the best way to tell the team. “He called me at my home. He asked me how he could look the kids in the face,” Kefu said. “[Ewing] said he couldn’t go on without coach Arcuri.” Although Kefu’s high school football career is over as he graduates at the end of the school year, the announcement was still surprising. “I was still in emotional shock,” Kefu said. “Everyone was crying. Everybody was ready for next year. I just felt bad for the younger kids. He changed a lot of kids’ lives.” For the non-seniors on the team, like running back Nick Montgomery, the hardest thing is not knowing what’s coming next. “It’s hard. Coach Ewing is like a second father,” Montgomery said. He admitted he is worried about the football team sliding back to mediocrity. Kryger doesn’t appear too concerned about finding someone to replace Ewing. “The reality is, we have a brand-new weight room, a brand-new field, bought a lot of uniforms and (blocking) sleds,” Kryger said. “T.J.’s built the program up to the point that it’s an attractive position to come in and take over.”
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