Getting To Know Chaparral Head Coach Tom Leach

Rahshaun Haylock

TEMECULA, Calif. (CBS) - He may be called boisterous.  Enigmatic to some.  Perhaps a real player's coach.  He's never lost for words.  He may be somewhat misunderstood, but Chaparral head coach Tom Leach calls it how he sees it.

In an interview with the Southwest Riverside News Network he said, "I am misunderstood because I am going to give honest answers when all a head coach is supposed to do is pick from a list of clichés or quotes and use them."
 
He was being honest after last year's Inland Division final when he said , "I feel bad for (Vista Murrieta).  I'm not trying to be Mr. Class guy, because I'm not. I really feel for them. I feel really bad for that staff."
 
Leach knows what its like to get to the big dance and lose.  In his fifth season as Chaparral head coach, Leach lost twice in CIF title games before last season's win over rival Vista Murrieta.  So when he says that, you know he's telling the truth. 
 
The championship won by Chaparral was the first in school history.  It was monumental for Leach --at that time -- who now says he doesn't even wear his ring.  The win was also a rematch for the Pumas who were beaten by Vista Murrieta in week seven.  Of the regular season meeting against the Broncos, Leach says his team was "out schemed" and "outcoached." 
 
What he won't tell you is the game was played without Leach on the sidelines. 
 
The Grand Puma was suspended for the Vista Murrieta game by school officials because of what he directed his team to do the week prior.  In a win at Murrieta Valley, three Nighthawks players were ejected for various reasons.  According to Leach, Chaparral players were victims of cheap shots and trash talking and he was proud of them for not retaliating.  At the end of the game, he ordered his team to point to the scoreboard. 
 
That incident caused quite an uproar in the community, with some even calling for Leach to be fired.  He has since apologized for the incident, admitting wrong doing. 
 
After the suspension Leach refused to talk to the media for the final seven weeks of the season. 
 
Chaparral (1-4) opened this season with a Murderer's Row schedule: vs Oceanside, vs Fresno Central, vs Corona Centennial, at Servite.  The Pumas started the season 0-4 after being nationally ranked to start the season.
 
It was a brutal stretch that Vista Murrieta head coach Coley Candaele says "90% of the teams in America would've been 0-4 after playing those four teams."  Although Leach has questioned himself for scheduling such a tough stretch to start the season, he says "in high school football big games are fun.  I have friends that are coaches that don't [coach in] big games ...they're bored!"
 
While Leach may not be bored, starting 0-4 is never fun.  Facing a schedule in which two of your first four games are against defending state champs is challenging. 
 
When Leach speaks of the loss to (3) Servite he says the Friars "were the better team that night."
 
What he won't tell you is he played that game without three starters.  Starting quarterback Matt Morin didn't play because of an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.  Star wideout Antoine Arnold missed the game with a groin injury.  Starting RB/DB Darius Guillory (San Diego State commit) played just two drives after injuring his shoulder. 
 
Tonight, the Pumas write another chapter in their rivalry with Vista Murrieta (4-1).  Its a game Leach calls the team's sixth big game in a row to start the season.  Its also the Southwestern League opener.  It also will be played without Arnold, who is suspended for this game after an incident following last season's Inland Division final at Vista Murrieta.
 
Leach is fully aware of the magnitude of the next five weeks.  The 0-4 start to the season "doesn't matter," says Leach "it doesn't matter if were 4-0 or 5-0."
 
One thing you won't hear from him is excuses.  Although his Pumas have fallen from rankings, Leach knows his team got better in the end after a 4-3 start to last season.  "The only way we can go is up, we feel like the worst is behind us." 
 
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