John Antonio is Casa Grande football coach

What many Casa Grande High School football players, parents and fans had anticipated and hoped for became a reality last week when John Antonio moved from interim to just plain Casa Grande head football coach.

Antonio had been named interim coach just two weeks ago, replacing Denis Brunk who resigned to pursue his master’s degree. Last week, his hire became official.

Casa Grande Principal Eric Backman said there were a “handful” of applicants for the position, but he is certain Casa Grande has the right man for the job.

“I’m very confident he will do a good job,” Backman said. “He not only knows the game, he also knows our community.

“He has gotten to know the teachers and staff and he has a very positive relationship with the students.”

The position is a perfect fit for Antonio, who is a Petaluma Police Officer assigned to Casa Grande High School as a school resource officer.

He has built up the trust of players and school administration as both a police officer and coach.

He was an assistant for current St. Vincent head coach Trent Herzog at Casa Grande and for former head coach Gary Galloway at St. Vincent.

He was also head coach at Piner High School in Santa Rosa, where he took a team that hadn’t won more than two games in a season in a decade and led it into the North Coast Section playoffs in just three years.

Before coaching, he was a standout three-sport athlete at St. Vincent, where he was all-league in both football and baseball.

He attended Santa Rosa Junior College and the San Francisco Police Academy.

Antonio also is a highly regarded youth football coach and has pioneered a youth flag football league in the North Bay.

The new coach said his personal responsibilities have been cleared and he is ready to go full speed forward with the Gaucho program.

Antonio said he has already met with the players and begun to select a coaching staff.

“It will be a combination of some of the guys on the staff and some new faces,” he said. “I’ve known and worked with many of the coaches on Denis’ staff, but there will also be some new guys.”

He is well aware that, after almost 30 years of stability, Gaucho players will now be experiencing their third coach in as many years, and he does not plan to make a lot of changes.

He said he will put a strong emphasis on conditioning. “Championships are won in the weight room,” he said.