Mesa names Weber permanent coach
Phil Weber has been working at the Home Depot since early April. He is learning a thing or two about rebuilding.
Rebuilding is what Weber will have to do with his other job, the one with the Costa Mesa High boys’ basketball program.
He will also have a new title with the Mustangs. Gone is the interim tag.
Costa Mesa named Weber its permanent boys’ basketball coach on Wednesday, almost four months after his debut season leading his alma mater ended. With the Mustangs losing 11 seniors to graduation, including four starters, Weber, a walk-on coach, knows he has his work cut out for him next season.
“We graduate a lot and we will be young,” Weber said, “but our basketball IQ is higher right now than it was last season.”
The makeup of last season’s team under Weber almost resulted in Costa Mesa bringing home its third league championship in the program’s history.
In the final week of the regular season, Weber had the Mustangs in contention to win their first league title in 10 years. With two Orange Coast League games to go, Costa Mesa shared first place with perennial league champion Laguna Beach.
The Mustangs split the final two games in league, falling short of first. The Breakers won league for the ninth time in 10 seasons, and Costa Mesa finished right behind them, taking second for the third time since 2006-07.
The success by the Mustangs (15-13, 8-2 in league), which included their first win at Laguna Beach in 14 years, wasn’t the only reason why the school chose to go with Weber.
“He’s such a good fit,” Athletic Director Sharon Uhl said of Weber, a 2007 Costa Mesa graduate who before this past season had never been a head coach on varsity, serving as an assistant with the Mustangs for seven seasons. “He knows the kids, he knows the school and he knows the alumni.”
Uhl said Weber beat out one other candidate for the position. She said the school did not feel like it needed to look outside to fill the vacancy, which didn’t come with a teaching position.
Only two people, Uhl said, applied for the coaching job, Weber did internally and one externally. She added that both were “solid candidates” that had “about the same experience” coaching basketball.
Two sources who did not want to be named said the other candidate was Agustin Heredia, a teacher in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Heredia used to be in charge at archrival Estancia for six seasons, guiding the Eagles to five runner-up finishes, a 32-23 record in league and to the CIF Southern Section playoffs every season.
Heredia stepped down from Estancia after the 2013-14 season, which included a first-round upset win at Indio in the Division 3A playoffs. The second-round appearance was the Eagles’ third under Heredia.
The second round has been foreign to the Mustangs the past four seasons. They have failed to get out of the first round of the Division 4AA playoffs since 2011-12. Costa Mesa lost in the opening round at home to JSerra, 77-62, on Feb. 17, marking its third straight double-digit setback in the postseason.
With starters Mason Tufuga, Calvin Ko, Chris Calderon and Nabeel Salameh graduating, the Mustangs will rely mostly on inexperienced players to lead them back to the playoffs next season. The only starter expected to return is guard Nico Dasca, who will be a sophomore next season.
Dasca will most likely be joined by other players off last season’s junior varsity team that went 16-2 overall and 8-2 in league. Weber likes where the program is heading, saying the future is bright.
Now that Weber has secured the job, the 26-year-old said he’s looking forward to becoming a father for the first time. Weber said his wife, Jordan, is due in a couple of weeks.
Being a dad, Weber said, won’t keep him away from coaching. As for playing basketball, that’s a different story.
Weber might have to miss the Estancia Basketball Community Shootout on June 10-11 because of the birth of his daughter. Last year, Weber and his top two assistants, Brian Molina and Tony Krikorian, as well as two former Costa Mesa coaches, Mike Molina and Dan Krikorian, teamed up to reach the finals of the four-on-four tournament.
If Weber doesn’t show up to this year’s tournament, the Molinas and Krikorians will know why.
“I’m really excited [to be a dad],” said Weber, who treats his players and staff like family. “Now that I’m having my own [child], it’s all one big family.”
