Why am I not surprised? Mark was long gone by 04. That was his senior season at MVHS. His last year at SM was 02.
Yeah I played in San Clemente right BEFORE a huge influx of money came into the town and rebuilt our beautiful stadium and field! Story of my life. I cant complain growing up in an amazing beach town like that though. The highlight of my high school career was "nearly" beating Sanchez' team (Mission Viejo) in our league championship. This was the year before sanchez started in HS though. They has won 22 straight times. I played DE, we played out of our minds, recovered 3 fumbles in the second half, went up by 3....then our QB threw a pick for 7 when we were on their 5 yard line, FML! But seriously, people that hate on Petros need to loosen up. The guy is total goof but thats what their show is about. Money is actually a very intelligent sports figure (does a great job on lakers post game out here) and they have great chemistry together because their both young guys with a sense of humor. The sanchez interview was a little lesss structured because they are friends with Sanchez. He was on like 5 times last year.
What was story as to why Sanchez transferred from RSM to MV? I'm somebody of his ability was a well known commodity among the HS football circles. Was there some funny business that went on?
I don't really want to start a new thread for a Youtube clip, so here is Simms on Sanchez before the draft... [YOUTUBE]P3dJvwW593M[/YOUTUBE]
Bob Johnson, head coach at MV, was his QB coach. He privately coaches just about every major QB coming out of the area, in addition to his annual QB camp. There have been some accusations of funny business on account of different players, but with Mark it really was just a desire to play for Bob. Unlike a lot of the transfers, Mission Viejo was his home area school. SM is private Catholic, so it was just a matter of moving to the school he was designated for in SVUSD. I'm guessing it also had something to do with the departure of Jim Hartigan from Santa Margarita. He was the head coach there for the first 14 years of the high school and left to coach at Clovis West the year Mark transferred to Mission Viejo. I'd be surprised if that didn't play a factor. I'll be honest, I don't know much about the coach who took over, but there was familiarity there with Bob Johnson.
San Clemente has had some good success in recent years. It's pretty astounding what Bob Johnson has done with MV, though. They were a very different team in the early to mid 90s before he came in. My nephew is at the school now. Can't tell you how disappointed I am to see Allan Bridgford head to Cal. I managed to get a kid to go to Stanford out of there a few years ago. He was the #1 recruit in the nation at his position, although his position was kicker/punter . If Conley doesn't work out for the Jets, I'm going to start working on getting him to sign with the Jets if he goes undrafted in a couple of years.
Man I'll have to come out in the fall and we should hit up a game... we'd have to go see the school that Ken O Brien is an assistant at.
Yeah you guys are dead on. Sanchez went to MV for Bob Johnson, "the QB guru" (hartigan leaving didnt hurt, hes a great coach. Coached my brother in the State all star game in 97). It was interesting because at the time all the big time guys went to Mater Dei (but it wasn't funny business because its private so there were no geographical restrictions). I was a freshman when Bob Johnson went to Mission Viejo. They were HORRIBLE and within 2 years they were on a 22 game win streak and their program was an absolute MACHINE. I have never seen a HIGH SCHOOL coach RECRUIT coaches and players the way he did. Our head coach, Eric Patton, actually had some bad blood with Johnson and there was always suspicion that there was illegal activities going on. For instance, we had a guy that was like 50 yards outside of the geographical zone for San Clemente and didnt know it and the league forces him to transfer to Capo valley in our division. You never saw that happen to MV. Whatever the case, my older brother went from SC and got a full ride to UNLV and I can say Bob Johnsons program was the closest thing to a COLLEGE program I've ever seen in a high school. They prep all their guys to go D1 and thats why guys end up there. I was a defensive end when I played and their O line was the SMALLEST in our league but I've never played against a unit that was physically stronger and more in sync then them. They were an absolute machine. VERY well coached but the MV guys usually go on to great success on the next level because they instill such a strong work ethic. That is very apparent in Mark Sanchez. That being said, this is the most ballwashing I've ever done to my RIVAL mission viejo, but I have to admit you cant help but respect them and I am SOOOOOOO happy to have a south OC guy to root for on the Jets. Everyone looks at me side ways when I say Im a jets fan (I actually became a fan right before High school when I first started really following the NFL and instantly marked Wayne Crebet as my favorite player!). Its going to be great getting some more So Cal support with Mark going out there. I wish him nothing but best. Due the South Coast League proud!!!!
