BY KEVIN J. FARMER
CHULA VISTA
Sometimes the best way to rebuild is to take it all the way down to the foundation.
With the hiring of 27-year-old Ryan Van Nostrand as head football coach, Olympian High School has reconnected with a key source that helped create what the school is today.
Ryan, last year’s offensive coordinator and the son of outgoing head coach Paul Van Nostrand, was a freshman when the school opened in 2006. He was on the school’s first JV team, which had no home field for games and practiced at Eastlake Middle School.
“We took a lot of pride starting a tradition here,” explained Ryan, who also played basketball, held a 4.20 grade-point average and now teaches math at his alma mater. “We had to create a culture ‘Where champions are made.’
“For the freshmen it was the first year in OUR school. It was the only connection to a high school experience we had. The sophomores that year came by choice, they already attended another school. We were the first four-year graduates.”
Under the direction of South Bay legend Gil Warren, the Eagles started playing varsity football a year later, going 2-8. His junior year they improved to 6-4 and then stunned everyone with an 11-1 season in 2009. Ryan was the only starting quarterback in school history.
“It was a much smaller campus then,” he said. “There was a fence blocking off half the campus, which always had the smell of manure and the sound of a jackhammer.
The Olympian tradition grew, getting to the Section Final in 2011 under Warren and 2016 under his father’s watch.
Ryan was on track to be a coach, attending Southwestern College and San Diego State. He was Olympian’s freshman head coach from 2012-2014. After taking a year off to concentrate on his teaching credential, he came back as JV offensive coordinator for two years before taking the varsity position last year.
His thoughts of being a coach came as young as seven. “I grew up on the sidelines,” he admitted. “I had a lot of good memories. I’d sit in on a lot of meetings and learn all the plays.”
“But I think coaching became more of a reality my junior or senior years. I knew I’d be a coach who majored in math. Math teachers are always in demand. Plus it’s like football — it takes a process and a lot of practice.”
History has had an effect on Ryan as well.
“If I had to pick a Mount Rushmore of Olympian I think I would start with Jorge Mancillas,” explained Ryan, often accused of bleeding Black, Vegas Gold and Teal. “He was the true definition of hard work. Then there is (Bing) Dawson. His attention to detail is remarkable; very cerebral. He’s such a great defensive mind and I’m glad he’s back to run our defense this year. Gil Warren was the perfect head coach. He knew the job and everything around it. And, of course my dad. I learned from him my passion and he really knows his X’s and O’s.”
On the field Ryan doesn’t have to build from scratch; the Eagles made the playoffs 10 years in a row. Last year they fell in the first round at Ramona, where they will travel to open this season Aug. 23.
“I’m trying to create a more energetic culture to turn things around on campus,” he explained. “I want to build up the pride. I think our biggest challenge is to get everyone believing again and buy into the culture.
“Perseverance is a big word here. Maybe we’ve lost that chip on the shoulder. We’ve always been a team that believed hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard.”
Kevin Farmer is a freelance writer.