Along the walls near the football locker room, dubbed “The Cave,” there is a comprehensive history of Mingus Union High School football. Countless names and accolades coat the interior hallways leading to the locker rooms and coaches’ offices.
On one side, there’s the name of each all-region player in the school’s history. One of the names is that of Dave Moncibaez, Mingus Union interim head football coach and former Marauders quarterback, class of 1997.
“We need to bring Mingus football to where it used to be,” he said. “We’ve been there and we need to be back there.”
The Marauders’ football history is a proud one — and Moncibaez wants to restore it. Hard times have fallen upon the program. After the legendary Bob Young — who Moncibaez played for — left the program in 2017, Mingus has fallen from grace. The Marauders put together an 8-2 season in the year after Young’s retirement, but things came to a head in 2019.
That year, Mingus went winless — 0-10. In 2020, a pandemic-shortened season, the Marauders put together just a lone win in seven games.
Moncibaez wants to restore the success of the Young era. But that’s easier said than done. Moncibaez wasn’t with the program just weeks before the start of the season. Previously serving as the head golf coach, his number was called to take the reins of the football program after previous head coach Doug Provenzano resigned in August, just days after being placed on paid administrative leave. The reasoning for the leave and investigation are yet to be revealed.
“[The resignation] was kind of shocking because we didn’t know what the future was going to hold,” senior running back Angelo Alverez said. “It was kind of scary, but at the same time we gotta do what we gotta do.”
Senior quarterback Zachary Harrison said the news “came out of nowhere.”
As if a coaching change two-and-a-half weeks before the first game wasn’t enough, Mingus has yet to play at home. Each of its first five games will have been on the road.
“It’s been rough,” Moncibaez said. “The kids want to play here at home in front of their hometown crowd.”
The team’s home field was “deemed unsafe” to play on over the summer, and its replacement was not ready for the start of the season.“It’s definitely irritating,” Harrison said. “But it’s cool because it kind of builds the suspense for when we come back. … It’s a blessing and a curse.”
Multiple home games were shifted to its opponents’ home stadiums. Mingus is currently set to have its home opener Oct. 8 against Arcadia, when Moncibaez is “hopeful” that the field will be ready.
“I say ‘hope,’ because as soon as I say ‘we will,’ it’s not going to happen,” he said with a laugh.
Moncibaez is a self-proclaimed man of tradition. He was especially eager to bring back a tradition he participated in as a Mingus senior himself.
Each summer, the seniors take a retreat before the season. This year, the timing worked out to be the week Moncibaez took over as interim coach. The team took a trip to Mingus Mountain and gathered to take part in one of Moncibaez’s favorite traditions.
Each senior class chooses a team motto. This year’s is “rise from the ashes,” referring to the ashes left by losing seasons in the years past.
“I think that fits with what we’re trying to do this year,” Harrison said.
The team is well on its way to rising from the ashes. Four games in, Mingus is 2-2. The Marauders experienced
a heart-wrenching loss, 49-42, to Flagstaff on a last-minute score from the Eagles. They rebounded well the next week with a 51-0 trouncing of Alhambra.
Leadership is a main reason for the team’s success in the opinion of Moncibaez. The players say they stepped up after the coaching change, knowing that was the time their leadership was most needed.
“Being a leader, at the same time losing that coach, we all knew that we were going to have to come together and start picking up on each other and helping each other,” Alvarez said. “We’ve learned that it’s a lot better coming from a teammate than a coach because they tend to listen more and they tend to realize more about what’s going on.”
Coach Moncibaez sees the page turning with what is now his program. The tradition is important to him, and he’s confident that Mingus Union football is “rising from the ashes.”
“These kids are buying in. These coaches are bought in. They know what Mingus football is, … we know what that tradition is and we want to bring that back to the kids.”
