AGENT OF FORTUNE — Ed Carberry considered joining the FBI before becoming SWC’s program during his 14 years at the college.
SWC head football coach Ed Carberry was preparing for law school and a career as an FBI agent when he faced a moment of truth.
He would rather coach.
The Bureau’s loss was the gridiron’s gain. Carberry is still an FBI— a Football Intellectual.
Carberry was named the 2017 Region IV State Coach of the Year for his leadership during a 9-2 championship campaign for the Jaguars. He is the only SWC coach to be honored with this award— not just once, but twice.
Soft-spoken and humble, Carberry said the award may have his name on it, but it belongs to the entire staff.
“It is always one guy who gets the recognition,” he said. “Just like it is the team, the team the team, it is the staff, the staff the staff.”
Carberry said the 2017 coaching staff was one of the best in SWC history. It was a cohesive unit, he said, though some shuffling was required for the staff to operate in unison.
“You never get a dozen roses,” Carberry said. “You get the flowers you get and turn them into a bouquet that looks good.”
After 41 years, Carberry said he knows how to make a beautiful bouquet. Quarterbacks coach Thad Porlas said Carberry knows how to get staff and players focused on the same goal.
“He is always prepared,” Porlas said. “He works hard on creating togetherness, building great character out of the student-athletes and instilling the belief that we can go out and compete and be successful as long as we play as a unit.”
Carberry said the pressure began to mount early last season. After losing to Pasadena City College, he had to readjust the team’s thinking.
“After the Pasadena game, people were playing the blame game,” he said. “We needed to stop blaming each other and take responsibility for what happened and move forward.”
Losing to Pasadena was a blessing in disguise. Sophomore quarterback Demonte Morris said the loss caused the team remember its long-term goal of a championship.
“After that game we all came together and focused more,” he said.
Carberry had a clear message for the team.
“If we want to accomplish, our goal as a team has to be championship,” he said. “We need to not think about our own success, but of the team, the team, the team.”
Porlas said convincing a large group of guys to put the team above themselves is what makes Carberry a great coach.
“Coach has a way, as all great coaches do, to get the best out of his student-athletes to learn, to compete and have that drive for success and will to win at anything they do, be it at life or on the football field,” said Porlas.
Before joining the SWC staff, Porlas coached against Carberry for 10 years at San Diego Mesa College. Playing against Carberry meant you had to be prepared for a real battle, he said.
“You better play your best football that day, because they are coming for you,” he said. “His teams are always well prepared on all facets of the game – offense, defense, special teams and making adjustments during the game.”
Before becoming a coach, Carberry learned from a legend. He started coaching during the spring of his senior year at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs. His coach was the great Marijon Ancich, whose 366 wins were the most by a high school football coach in California. Ancich asked his graduating seniors to help him during the spring semester. Carberry continued to assist Ancich for the next three years.
Carberry said Ancich taught him to have a business plan and do what you do well in order to be good and consistent.
“Have you ever seen a McDonald’s go out of business? Not really,” he said. “Over 3 billion hamburgers sold, because they make their food the exact same way in Chula Vista, in downtown Manhattan and Japan. That is the same approach we take with our team each year.”
Carberry is a well-read, worldly man fascinated by the complexities and vagaries of our planet. His interest in the FBI ran deep, but not deep enough.
“I was sitting in the law library at USD the day before the LSAT (Law School Admission Test), and thought ‘I do not really want to do this, I would rather coach,’” he said.
Carberry has been the SWC head coach since 2007. His record so far includes six championships in 10 seasons.
His coaches and players expect more in the future, which is also the sign of a great coach.
