Coach Collins is in his 4th season as the Head Football Coach here at Hartnell College.  He has had recent success bringing the Panthers to a share of the Coast Conference Championship last season by finishing 4-1 in conference play.  The offense had some solid performances throughout the 2009 season and eventually finished as the 22nd ranked unit out of 71 programs in the State.  This was a huge improvement from the prior season where they finished ranked 68th.  Look for the 2010 Panthers to build upon that success and compete for another conference title.

It is well known that Hartnell College has had many successful years of athletics, and in particular the football program is well known for its winning tradition.  “It is an honor to hold the position of head football coach at a school whose reputation of success is known throughout the country.  At this time, our program is in a rebuilding stage and with the support of our athletic director, Danny Teresa, a solid group of coaches; we will continue to develop our student athletes into productive members of our community”.

“It is our mission to mold our student athletes into responsible individuals and assist them to achieve a college education.  Life is full of obstacles and adversities, and the game of football is full of similar challenges.  As a coach, I have an opportunity to impress upon our players the importance of overcoming challenges they may be faced with while balancing their education, athletics, and other outside obstacles in everyday life”.

“We intend to prepare each week in efforts to beat our opponents.  Through hard work and discipline our players will be up for the challenge. Thank you for supporting Hartnell Football and we look forward to seeing YOU………….Saturday nights at “The Pit”.

Entering his 40th season, and 2nd at Hartnell as our Defensive Coordinator, Coach Noble has made an immediate impact. He has brought the “Panther Defense” from the 68th ranked unit in the state to the 27th spot in just 1 season. Coach Noble stepped away from a lifetime career as a high school teacher and coach by retiring from Monterey H.S. at the end of the 2008 season.  His resume is unmatched as he can be remembered having a major influence on thousands of young men and women dating back to the beginning of his career in 1970 at Tennyson High school in Hayward, Ca.

Prior to serving as the head coach at Monterey High School from 2003-2008, he was named the 2002 Monterey Herald and Salinas Californian Coach of the Year at Gonzalez High School.  In addition, he has been named coach of the year 10 different times in 3 different conferences. Coach Noble has won 10 conference championships and has had 16 playoff appearances throughout his 23 years as a Head Coach.

Coach Noble is the author of Football’s Split 4-4 Defense and he has gained National recognition for football clinics and instructional videotapes through “Coaches Choice videos”.  Over the years, he has been a guest speaker at clinics throughout the Country at major Universities; too many to list.

In addition to coaching on the football staff, Coach Noble will be teaching classes as a part-time member of the physical education department.  His wife Cathy is a full time employee at Hartnell College where she works as a DSP counselor.

Max Matsuhara – Offensive Line

Coach Matsuhara enters his 6th season as the offensive line coach.  In addition to his service as a football coach he was on staff with the track program for 6 years.  Prior to working at Hartnell he worked at North Salinas H.S. for 32 years as a football coach.  During that time he coached North Salinas track & field for 15 seasons.  Coach Matsuhara earned his Bachelor Degree from Cal State Hayward and attended Hartnell College.  He was a football player at both colleges.  Max has 6 siblings, 1 brother and 5 sisters.   He has been a well known coach in our community for many years.

Coach Todd is beginning his 2nd year for Hartnell College. He has played a key role in the development of our offense and we expect his impact to continue this season. Prior to joining our staff, Coach Todd filled in as Offensive Coordinator at Glendale High School. During the 2006 - 2007 seasons he was the Defensive Line Coach at Santa Rosa Junior College. In 2005, Coach Todd was the Offensive Coordinator for Hamburg Blue Devils in Germany. Prior to that season Coach Todd was the Offensive Line Coach at Western New Mexico University. In 2003, he spent his first year in two separate stints at Santa Rosa Junior College, this time as the Offensive Line Coach. In addition, to coaching for these organizations, he spent the 2001-2002 seasons as the Offensive Line Coach for Occidental College. Prior to Occidental he coached a year in Salt Lake City for West High School as the Offensive Line Coach. In 1999, Coach Todd was the Running Backs/Tide Ends Coach at Mendocino College. He began his coaching career in 1997 where he spent two seasons as the Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach at Palo Verde High School which happens to be his alma mater. Coach Todd’s playing career began at Pasadena City College in 1989 – 1991 from where he received a scholarship to the University of Utah between the seasons of 1992-1994.

Coach Watt has been an assistant football coach at Hartnell College since 1990.  He is a full time Physical Education Instructor on campus and has been the Head Softball Coach since his hire. 

Prior to joining us at Hartnell, coach Watt served as an assistant football/baseball coach at Gilroy H.S. for 1 year.  He coached 1 year as a wide receivers coach at San Jose State and 8 years as a receivers/defensive back coach at De Anza College under his father in law, the legendary Charlie Elder. 

Coach Watt has his Masters Degree in physical education from St. Marys’ College a teaching credential from San Jose State and BA Degree in Physical Education from Long Beach State.  Andy is married to his wife Kathy who teaches at Toro Park Elementary. They have a daughter named Casey who attends Salinas H.S. and their son Corey attend San Benancio School. 

This will be the first season for our defensive ends coach, Gaspare Montante. He most recently served as the Defensive Coordinator at Marina High School. Prior to coaching at Marina, Gaspare was the Head Football Coach at Gonzales High school during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Coach Montante coached at Monterey High School from 2001-2003 as the Defensive Coordinator. From 1999 through the 2000 season, he was the Defensive Coordinator under Joe Bommarito and Cass Jackson at Monterey Peninsula College. He began his coaching career at Monterey High School as an Assistant Coach during the season of 1997 and1998. Gaspare attended Monterey High School and graduated in 1994 where he received All Monterey Bay League Honors. He played for Monterey Peninsula College in 1994-1995 and was an All Conference Linebacker. Coach Montante went on to play football at Humbolt State University. He now resides in Monterey and works as a tile contractor for the family business. Gaspare has completed his first year of marriage to his wonderful wife Shayna.

We are happy to have 1st year Coach Chris Vasseur. Chris has most recently served as the Defensive Coordinator for Gilroy High School from 2008-2009. In addition, he specifically worked with the Defensive backs. He spent time working with the Quarterbacks in the 2009 season. Prior to coaching at Gilroy High school, he worked at Los Altos High school in the 2007 season as the Defensive Coordinator/ Defensive Backs Coach. Coach Vasseur was a Graduate Assistant at SanJose State University from 2006-2007 where he was titled Assistant video Coordinator and assisted the defensive staff. Prior to working at San Jose State, he worked as a student video assistant at the University of Miami during the spring of 2006. Chris has gathered a wealth of knowledge working for 2 Division 1 programs. He brings that experience with him to Hartnell, and his background provides great insight for our young players. Chris is single and is a student teacher at North Salinas High school this fall.

Coach Hastie enters his 1st season on staff for the Panthers. Most recently he had several tryouts with NFL and UFL teams across the country. He started his career at the University of Oregon in 2004 as a running back, then transferred to Auburn University and finished his career in 2008. Coach Hastie is a graduate of Palma High School from the class of 2004 where he received All-League honors. Recently back in Salinas, he is finishing his certification as a performance trainer and, in addition, he will be finishing his bachelors’ degree in communications.

Coach Hastie brings much experience and knowledge of how university programs operate. This will be a tremendous asset for our program as he can relate his experiences with our young players. He will be our strength & conditioning coach as well as an offensive assistant working with the running backs.

This is the 2nd season for Coach Chacanaca, last season he served as the video coordinator for Hartnell. He has offered to spend more time with the program which has allowed us to delegate him more responsibility with the everyday operations of our football program. Andy has been actively working on the field helping set up drills for our coaches. He has also been instrumental with our equipment issue and all aspects of assisting our program. He works with the defensive staff and helps with the organization of our practices. During practice our coaches rely upon his assistance with timelines and practice scripts. He has been a great addition to our staff as his work takes some of the tasks off the hands of our coordinators. Before joining our staff, Andy scouted opponents for Monterey High School from 2006-2008. He was an Assistant Coach (tight Ends/Defensive Ends) for Sobrato High school during the 2005 season. Prior to that, he was an assistant at Gonzales High School from 2002-2004.