Santa Fe High on hunt for football coach

James Barron | The New Mexican

6/19/2008 - 6/20/08

Santa Fe High School interviewed three finalists for its vacant head football coaching position on Thursday.

The schools' search committee talked with Manuel Gonzales, a former assistant coach at St. Michael's; Mike Mares, Santa Fe High defensive coordinator and former head coach of the program; and Chris Fitzpatrick, whose background is unknown other than he is a Santa Fe resident, according to Santa Fe Public Schools public information director Erica Landry.

The position opened when Mike Ulibarri resigned on June 6 in response to his re-assignment from the physical education department into special education. In three seasons, Santa Fe High was 6-24 under Ulibarri, including a 4-6 mark in 2007.

Santa Fe High principal Daniel Webb was unavailable for comment. Gonzales declined comment until after a hire was made.

Mares said he applied for the job to keep the continuity of the current coaching staff intact. The coaches already have defined roles and responsibilities since Ulibarri's resignation and Mares indicated those roles would change very little, if at all, if he is the search committee's selection.

"Somebody has to take on the title, but we are a group," Mares said. "Each coach is going to have a blast with their duties and responsibilities."

Mares' varsity coaching experience has been limited to Santa Fe High. He was an assistant under then-head coach David Church from 1974-1980, when the Demons reached the Class AAAA state playoffs in Church's last five seasons and won the state title in 1979.

Mares took over in 1981 and led the Demons to a 5-6 mark and a District 1AAAA runner-up spot. Santa Fe High fell to 3-7 a year later, and Mares resigned after that season, citing personal reasons. He spent time coaching youth football before resurfacing as an assistant coach in 2005 when Ulibarri took over the program just a week before two-a-days began.

"I was always involved in football, but not to the point where it was 24-7, 12 months a year," Mares said. "But coaching is something that's always in the blood."

Contact James Barron at 986-3045 or jbarron@sfnewmexican.com.