La Cañada football assistant Sarceda takes head-coaching job
Ryan Zerbel now knows he left the La Cañada High football program in good hands.
Zerbel stepped down as head coach after leading the Spartans program for two seasons as he’s taking a physical education teaching position at Sandburg Middle School in the Glendora Unified School District.
“In this day and age, it’s difficult to find a PE position and even more difficult to find one so close to home,” said Zerbel, a Glendora resident. “When the opportunity arose, I felt like I had to take it.”
Zerbel made a strong recommendation as to who should be his successor.
Zerbel hoped that Jason Sarceda would be considered for the new head coaching position. That hope was realized Monday when La Cañada named Sarceda as the program’s coach, pending governing board approval.
“We have done a lot of work and moved the program in the right direction the past few years and I thought that Jason taking over would be the best decision to keep the progress moving forward,” said Zerbel, whose teams went 10-10, 5-5 in the Rio Hondo League the last two seasons. “I told them you don’t want to take a chance on somebody else and have the program go backwards.
“I am completely happy that he did get the job. He is more than qualified, he will do a wonderful job and the kids love him and he has good relationships with the parents.”
Sarceda was an assistant on the Spartans coaching staff the previous five seasons, the last three spent as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator under Zerbel. He is also a longtime coach in the La Cañada Gladiators youth football organization.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity,” said Sarceda, 44. “I’ve been in the community for a number of years as a coach and a business owner and been a stable person in the Spartans program for some years, so I feel like I have a lot of roots in the community.”
The coach inherits a team that lost a group of seniors to graduation after going 6-4 and 3-2 in the Rio Hondo League during the 2016 season. The Spartans didn’t make the CIF Southern Section playoffs, but ended the regular season with a big 28-13 league victory against San Marino.
“We have a lot to rebuild with the program after we graduated 20 seniors,” Sarceda said. “We only have only a few starters back so we will have to build things up again.
“I feel we have great support with the people around this program and I’m hoping that we can keep the tradition here going.”
Sarceda said he will be retaining the majority of the La Cañada coaching staff and adding a few alumni as assistants.
Sarceda becomes La Cañada’s fourth coach over the last five seasons.
Twitter: @jefftsports
