Tesoro's New Football Coach Comes From Capo Valley

Tesoro High announced Friday it has named Matt Poston its new head football coach.

Poston succeeds Brian Barnes, who coached the Titans program for six years. Poston got the nod over a large number of applicants statewide, and "a surprising number from around the country," said Dr. Daniel Burch, principal at Tesoro.

"A number of them had college level experience, including major colleges," he said.

Despite all the outside interest, it turns out Tesoro only had to look around the corner.

At the time Barnes was removed as coach during the last week of the regular season and eventually fired, he had been the most tenured football coach with the same team in the Capistrano Unified School District. With Barnes' removal, Poston became the coach with the longest service with one school—three years at Capistrano Valley High.

Capo Valley in 2012 finished in a three-way tie for first place with Dana Hills and Laguna Hills in the five-team Sea View League. It was the first league title since 1996 for the Cougars (8-3 overall, 3-1 in league).

Over three seasons, Poston's teams were a combined 14-18.

Poston was part of the Tesoro staff when the school began in 2001 and was its freshman football coach its first six years; his teams won 53 games and four league championships at that level. He taught and coached there for nine years. He was defensive coordinator for Tesoro in 2008 when the Titans' only loss was in the Southern Section Pac-5 finals to Long Beach Poly, 20-17.

"What Matt has is a wide range of skills," Burch said. "First and foremost is that Matt is an excellent teacher who has demonstrated a commitment to the academic success of his students. He is a proven football tactician. He is an open communicator. He has a strong reputation within our local community, including personal and family ties. Matt shares values with Tesoro High School, emphasizing honesty, fairness, personal growth, and accountability for student and staff behavior."

Poston was a lineman at Huntington Beach High and then University of Redlands before transferring to University of Arizona. He lives in Ladera Ranch with his wife and two children.

Poston has taught Algebra in the school district for 13 years and has his Master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University.

In six seasons with Tesoro, Barnes' teams were a combined 47-23; prior to that, he coached Estancia to a 7-4 record. Tesoro's record in 2012 was 7-4 overall, 6-3 while Barnes was still in charge. Although fired as coach, he was named Tesoro's teacher of the year by his colleagues.