Sports
Football: Dublin Introduces John Wade as Head Coach
San Ramon resident held same position at Miramonte for past nine years, but is excited about the new challenge with the Gaels.
principal Carol Shimizu left no stone unturned in showing her satisfaction in hiring John Wade to coach Gaels football for 2011 and beyond.
“We feel real fortunate at Dublin High School because we’ve struck gold,” Shimizu said to those gathered Monday night at the Dublin Unified School District’s board room to welcome Wade to the high school.
Many of the 40 people — players, fans and parents — at the dessert reception to watch Wade be formally introduced appeared to share the same sentiment. Some praised Wade and others eagerly asked what he plans on running during games.
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“It’s just such a good opportunity,” Wade said. “The school is growing and the facilities and kids are phenomenal. It just seems like an exciting opportunity to do this.”
Wade was the head coach at his alma mater, Miramonte in Orinda, for the past nine years. Having coached the Matadors in some capacity for the past 15 years, the decision to leave for Dublin didn’t come easy.
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“It’s what I’ve been doing for a long time,” he said. “That’s all I’ve really known as far as coaching, so it was a tough decision.”
It was a choice he almost didn’t make.
Shimizu told the crowd that she had given Wade an ultimatum a few weeks ago on a Tuesday to let her know by the end of that week if he wanted the job or not.
Wade initially decided that Friday that he couldn’t leave Miramonte, and declined the job offer.
But Shimizu wouldn’t be denied.
After a weekend of silence, she felt that she needed to pitch the job to Wade again, so she called him one more time Sunday night to see if he’d change his mind.
Shimizu’s gamble worked. Wade decided that he couldn’t refuse the offer a second time around.
Dublin athletic director Shawn McHugh said that Wade’s persona put him on the top of a candidate list that featured 36 other applicants.
“I really liked his comments about teaching kids and holding them accountable as human beings, and that they are people,” McHugh said. “That’s what excelled him to the top of the list. We had some dynamite candidates but I just liked what he had to say about our kids.”
Dublin Unified School District Superintendent Stephen Hanke said Wade’s hiring will bring an influx of energy into the system.
“This will be a single-high school district,” Hanke said. “It’ll be nothing but growth, so you’re just going to see this expand from here. This is the very beginning of some very good things.”
Wade said that the team has been doing weights on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and having meetings Tuesdays and Thursdays to learn his spread offense.
“It’s just been an exciting time,” Wade told the crowd. “The kids are doing new things — a lot different from what they’ve been used to. I think they’re going to like it and already like it. They’re asking good questions so that’s been really good.”
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