The Name Isn’t All That Has Changed

Until late last month, the Santa Ana College football office phone answering machine still said: “You have reached the Rancho Santiago football office.”

It was just one of many things to deal with on Coach Dave Ogas’ “things to do list” that started on the first day in July when the college reverted back to being called Santa Ana after 12 years as Rancho Santiago.

The campus opened with the name Santa Ana College in 1915 and stayed that way until 1985, when the switch was made so the Santa Ana campus would better reflected the entire district, which was named Rancho Santiago.

But now that the campus in Orange has become an independent college known as Santiago Canyon, Santa Ana reverted back.

“People would come up to me and ask me why the name was changed,” Ogas said. “I was having conversations like that at least once a week [for 12 years].”

Although the change has been made on paper, more tangible signs have been slow in coming.

The sign outside of the football office still reads “RSC Football” despite Ogas’ request to update it.

New practice T-shirts also are supposed to be on the way but have yet to appear. A small patch is all that’s needed to make Santa Ana’s game uniforms conform. The college’s nickname “Dons” appears on the helmet and jersey sleeve but there is a tiny “RSC” embroidered on the pants that will be covered.

When the team took the field in 1985 with Santa Ana on the jerseys, they were changed after one game.

“I think those jerseys were only about a year old,” Ogas said.

Going by the different name is only part of what’s different for Ogas, who is in his 16th season.

His game-day loyalty is being challenged for the first time because his son Mike is a starting wide receiver at Cal State Northridge and Dave, like most proud fathers, wants to be there to watch.

Mike played the last two seasons for the Dons so it was easy for Dave to closely follow his progress. Mike caught 46 passes for 544 yards and three touchdowns last season and earned all-Mission Conference honors.

But Mike has moved on and Dave and his wife, Debby, plan to follow as often as possible, which means he will not be at three of Santa Ana’s 10 regular-season games.

In those cases, defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Tom Nelson, who is in his 16th season with Ogas, will be the head coach.

Ogas’ inspiration for doing this came from assistant Tom Shine, who spent last season following his son Casey while he played at Nevada. Shine worked with the team all week, then missed the games. Ogas will do the same.

“We always say that family comes first,” Ogas said, “and I want to see Mike play. It’s going to be really fun . . . [The staff has] been together so long they know what to do. I think this is going to be a positive thing. But I’ll be chomping at the bit to get our score.”