Plenty of familiar faces in new coaching roles as football season opens in Fresno area
After spending time as an assistant at Clovis North and Garza high schools, George Petrissans is back on the sideline as a head coach.
This time, he’ll be leading The Bee’s preseason No. 3-ranked Clovis East Timberwolves into their season opener against No. 9 Bullard at Lamonica Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday.
“I just kind of felt like I wanted to be a head coach again,” Petrissans said. “I just thought it was a great time. Just empty nesters right now, so it’s just time to get back into it.”
Petrissans stepped away from the head coaching ranks following the 2018 season citing health reasons. He still wanted to coach but only as an assistant. He didn’t want the full role where day in and day out was a task.
He joined Clovis North under then-head coach Mike Jacot, who stepped down following the 2024 season.
Petrissans spent quality time there before going to Garza.
He said he was proud of getting to coach his son, Jack, at tight end and teaching the offensive line the fundamentals.
“It was a great experience,” Petrissans said of his time at Garza. “Coach (Yosef) Fares was tremendous. I learned a lot from him. I loved those kids at Garza. I’m glad I went there. I got to work with some great people.”
When former Clovis East coach Brandon Nagle stepped down, Petrissans decided it was time.
This time, Petrissans will be surrounded with the same staff that helped the Timberwolves to a 12-1 overall record and 5-0 in the Tri-River Athletic Conference. He also added former Sunnyside high co-head coaches Thomas Wilson and Gordon Wood, whom he said wanted to coach with for “a long time.”
Not a bad way to return to the Central Section as the head coach of the Timberwolves, especially when Clovis East still have playmakers, such as running back Lindsey Graves, cornerback Oshea Webb, defensive end Caleb Slocum and linebacker Tristan Kircher.
Petrissans said 6-foot-4 Jamie Spurgeon will be the starting quarterback.
“The guys that were there, were waiting for their turn,” Petrissans said. “It’s now their opportunity to showcase their skills and let everyone else know Clovis East football is going to be just fine.”
Other new coaches in the Fresno area
Benny Martinez, Clovis South. He is no stranger to being a head coach — and this is a fresh start considering the Longhorns are playing for the first time since opening this year.
Martinez was a long-time assistant at Clovis North before he was named head coach there, where he went 4-17 in two seasons.
Colby Hunter, Clovis North. Hunter is now in charge after Mike Jacot resigned after six seasons.
Hunter was at NCAA Division II Lenoir-Rhyne as the quarterbacks coach. Prior to that, he was at College of the Sequoias from 2020-2021.
Hunter has experience at the high school level, coaching at Central East in 2009 before going to San Joaquin Memorial as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
Jeff Haynes, Central West. Haynes was an assistant at Bullard last season and previously was an assistant at Central.
He has plenty of experience and will look to lead the Grizzlies in an abbreviated schedule of six games.
The Grizzlies will play at Koligian Stadium, while the stadium at Dickenson is under renovation.
“I knew I wanted to be a head coach,” Haynes said. “I didn’t want to be stagnant for too long.”
Gio Guzman, Sunnyside. Guzman takes over for Gordon Wood and Thomas Wilson, who are now Clovis East assistants.
He was the JV head coach and varsity running backs coach.
Sunnyside has been successful in the North Yosemite League and the school wanted to keep the continuity with a familiar face.
Steve Lentz, Hanford West. It’s his first stint as a head coach after previously serving as a defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator.
Lentz was part of the coaching staff on the 1999 and 2000 championship teams at Tulare Union.
He is entering his 27th season as a high school coach.
Chris Mendoza, El Diamante. Mendoza recently was the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at Hanford since 2019, but was at El Diamante in 2018 when he was the freshman head coach.
Mendoza played at Sanger High under former coach Chuck Shidan when the Apaches won back-to-back Valley championships.
Jeremiah Aycock, Yosemite. He was a Torres assistant for the past several seasons and helped the Toros to a Central Section Division IV title in the 2023 season.
He takes over for John Beck.
Curtis Allen, Redwood. A former Redwood grad is back. Allen has head coaching experience when he was at College of the Sequoias in 2005 until 2010, compiling a 35-25 record.
Allen takes over for Kevin Scharton. Allen has a wealth of experience from being an assistant at Fresno City College and COS. He was track and field head coach at both schools. He was the spring and relay track and field assistant at UCLA until 2022.
Jeramie Heffley, Laton. A Laton native, he takes over for Rich Olson, who had been there for multiple seasons, including 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2020-2021.
Pete Renteria, Farmersville. Renteria was plenty of knowledge after serving as an assistant head coach for Exeter.
He had been a boys soccer coach at Exeter since 2010.
