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After seven years of storming the sidelines at Tam High, football coach Matt LemMon broke the news to his players on Monday that he is leaving to take over the football program at Garden Grove High School in Orange County.
“It killed me to tell them I’m leaving,” said LemMon, who will lead an Argonauts team that finished 3-7 overall last season, with wins over Pacifica, Gahr and Big 4 opponent Katella.
“I had a good run here for seven years,” LemMon said. “But I need a new environment with different challenges.”
LemMon was given his first high school head coaching job in 2017 when he was hired to replace the retiring Jon Black at Tam. LemMon grew up in the East Bay and played at St. Mary’s in Albany and San Diego State before joining head coach Gerald Montgomery’s staff at Hercules High.
During his time at Tam, LemMmon led the Red-tailed Hawks to a 38-32 overall record, with four postseason appearances, including a trip to the second round of the North Coast Section Division III playoffs last season. The Hawks’ 8-4 campaign ended with a 35-16 loss to Marin Catholic.
“Matt made an impact. You can’t say that about a lot of coaches,” Tam athletics director Nathan Johnson said.. “Matt is a person and a coach who has successfully done that. He touched the program and put his own spin on it. He’s done that in the classroom and on the football field. He held the kids accountable and helped them achieve more. He rubs off on people in a good way.”
LemMon’s first Hawks team, which went 6-5, included running back Tre’chaun Berkley, Leonjae Silas, Sam Uriarte, Aidan Newell, quarterback Cooper Carroll and receiver Jack Dickson.
“I’ve had some great classes of kids,” LemMon recalled. “That (2020) class right before COVID hit, with Ben Reade, Sam Reade, Crewe Hutson, Aidan Newell, Christian Son, Joe Lubenow, Lochlin Farrell, all those guys were special. I felt sorry for the guys who were robbed the next season by the pandemic. But that was a great year… We had so many special teams, great players, even the guys who are coming back this year are really good. Tam should have a good team next season.”
LemMon, 32, replaces Ricardo Cepeda, who resigned as head coach to become Garden Grove’s director of athletics. LemMon said he was excited by the football culture in Southern California, with the opportunity to play Friday nights under the lights with Garden Grove.
Garden Grove won the Big 4 league title in 2022 and advanced to the Southern Section Division 9 quarterfinals during a 10-2 season. The Argonauts are scheduled to open the 2024 season on August 23 at home against non-league foe Bellflower.
“The biggest highlights for me aren’t particular moments, but I got to build relationships with a lot of cool kids and community members here,” LemMon said. “We did good on the field, but bringing the community together in Southern Marin, getting people involved in football, that was all really special.”
Johnson said he hopes to announce the hiring of a new head football coach before the end of the school year. The Tamalpais Unified High School District will give internal candidates first chance to apply for the post before opening it up to outside candidates.
Tam is scheduled to open the 2024 season with back-to-back road games against Bishop O’Dowd and St. Ignatius College Prep, on August 30 and September 6, before the home opener on September 14 against Las Lomas.
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