September 11, 2019

Former CIF Division I Player of the Year Drew Casani ’91 was tabbed as the head coach of Loyola’s Varsity Football team in January of this year. His coaching debut was also a successful one—a 38-0 romp at home over St. Bernard’s back on August 30th at Smith Field. However, with one of the toughest schedules in California, Casani and the 2019 Cubs know they will have their work cut out for them in order to make the postseason. Still, Casani is relishing his time as the leader of Loyola Football and is optimistic about the program’s future.

 

What does it mean for you to be the head coach at Loyola High School? 

It’s a true honor to be the head coach at my alma mater. My time at Loyola as a student and as an athlete are some of the most memorable and impactful times of my life. When I look back and reflect on the impact Coach Steve Grady ’63, Coach Jon Dawson, Coach Greg Wells, Coach Ed Hearn and many others had in my life, I realize what a privilege it is to be back here and have the opportunity to make an impact on these young men’s lives.

What were you feeling in the season opener and your head coaching debut at Loyola?

Nervous. Excited and nervous. I feel a responsibility to do well, not only for the current players and Loyola Community, but also for all of the Cubs that have worn that jersey in the past.

You have a mix of familiar faces and newcomers to your coaching staff this year. Can you speak a little bit about those who are joining you on the sideline?

I have a great staff alongside me this year and I was very happy to keep a few longtime Loyola Football coaches on our Varsity staff.

• Mike Gilhooly ’88—our Defensive Coordinator—has been coaching here since 1992, and Rick Pedroarias ’84—who has been coaching here since the mid-80s—is our Offensive Line coach. Those two have brought such great leadership and experience, having been at Loyola and around the football program for many years.
• Joe Murray ’78 was an assistant at the JV level last year and he’s now our Offensive/Defensive Lines coach. He played offensive line at USC and has been a strong addition to work with Coach Pedroarias to shore up our guys up front.
• In addition, Jorge Torres ’99 (Tight Ends, Kickers), Joe Vivo ’96 (Running Backs, Special Teams) and Christian Gascou ’93 (Defensive Line) remain on our staff and have been essential to our growth.

I was also able to hire some really talented coaches from outside of the Loyola family, and they’ve brought great expertise, passion and a different perspective that has helped us evolve as a team and program.

• Matthew Hatchette—our Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach—was most recently the OC at Long Beach Poly HS and Orange Lutheran HS. Hatch played college football at Langston University in Oklahoma, where he starred as a QB before being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings where he played a number of years as a WR alongside Chris Carter and Randy Moss.
• Gabe Marks coached wide receivers at the Freshman level last year. Being around him, it was obvious what a great coach he was so I asked him to join our Varsity staff. Marks has quickly made a huge impact on our WR corps with the attention to detail in the fundamentals and technique of playing the position. Coach Marks went to Venice HS before going to college at Washington State, where he still holds the all-time PAC-12 receptions record.
• Jerry Phillips is our Defensive Backs coach and was most recently the Defensive Coordinator at Village Christian HS. Coach Phillips is a DB coach at heart, but he has provided a great perspective for Coach Gilhooly with our defensive concepts as a whole.
• Elic Mahone or Big El as we call him, has been a youth coach in the Pasadena area for years.  He played alongside Coach Phillips at Muir HS during their heyday under Coach Brownfield.  Big El went on to play defensive line at USC before being drafted by the Washington Redskins.

I’ve always felt strongly about having a program that can develop offensive and defensive linemen, and with four outstanding coaches (Big El and Gascou on DL and Pedroarias and Murray on OL), we’ve already seen remarkable development in this year’s student-athletes.

Overall, I think this is an incredible group of coaches and I’m so lucky to have these guys by my side, helping develop our young men.

“Program-wise, it’s about getting back to our attention to details. We have to do the little things right to be successful. We have to be committed to the fundamentals, and we have to get back to having consistency from our Freshman level to our Varsity level with what we’re teaching and how we’re teaching.”

— HC Drew Casani at Mission League Football Media Day

The season has just started, but what are you hoping and expecting to see from your team for the remainder of the year?

I expect us to continue to improve. I expect us to compete and play with the passion and physicality that Loyola is known for. To get back to where we used to be as a program will take a lot of hard work, and it’s not going to be easy, nor will it happen overnight. But, I expect us to be the smartest and most well-conditioned team every time we take the field. We have a great group of young men here at Loyola, and if we continue to work hard and come together as a team, I expect big things.

Lastly, what is your best Loyola Football memory?

I have a lot of great memories wearing the Blue and White, but I think the things that I cherish the most were the guys I played football with and the coaches I learned from. The most obvious winning moment was when we won the CIF Championship during my senior year, but the best memories I have are all of the ones that lead up to that moment.