When former head football coach Jason Selli stepped down after the 2012 season, there was a big vacancy to be filled, and the Carlmont athletic department found its answer in Marcus Farhad.
Despite the insane amount of knowledge it takes to be a successful football coach, Farhad believes education should always be the number one priority for him, as well as for his student athletes.
“If one of my players comes up to me and says ‘Hey coach I have a 2.0!’ That’s not good enough. Average is not good enough. I want these kids to be good students, and I want them to go to college because I care about them,” said Farhad.
Farhad’s knack for academics stems from the fact that he has been a Carlmont employee for 12 years, holding almost every school-related job in the book. Over the course of his first 11 years he was a campus aid, an instructional aid, and the health aid for seven years. This year, his twelfth year, is his first year as a teacher, teaching both science and math full time.
However, the new head coach is no stranger to the sideline. Farhad has 12 years of coaching experience under his belt, having coached for a wide variety of teams during his tenure as a Carlmont employee.
He has worked as a head coach for junior varsity teams for three years, and has helped out as an assistant coach at both the varsity and junior varsity levels at Carlmont, San Mateo, Sacred Heart Prep, and Menlo-Atherton, where he was a varsity assistant for the ‘08 CCS Championship team.
Along with all of his experience and previous success, Farhad comes into his first varsity head coaching job fresh off a successful season as the Carlmont JV head coach. Farhad led his squad of 50 players (38 freshmen and 12 sophomores) to a PAL Lake Division leading 9-1 record. The Scots only loss came to Woodside (10-0), where they fell behind early in the first half, but were able to shutout the Wildcats in the second half, showing determination and promise.
“This group never gave up,” said Farhad, “They had an unbelievable drive and desire to win. They always kept fighting until the whistle.”
In close games last season, the JV team turned it up a notch, pulling away with many late game victories.
“We put them through such good conditioning that they had more stamina than their opponent when the third and fourth quarters came around,” said Farhad.
Farhad’s experience and previous success seems to be attracting Carlmont students to the football program, as well as the fact that he is a very genial and outgoing person. Carlmont students can see Farhad roaming the hallways giving students high fives and having short conversations.
“As a football coach, my job is year-round,” Farhad said, “I really care about the kids, so I communicate with my athletes as much as possible even when it’s not football season.”
His communication skills have certainly paid off thus far. On Nov. 28, 2012, the first football meeting under Coach Farhad attracted 65 students.
Farhad hopes that his returning players from the JV team and the returning varsity players from last year will spark a successful 2013 season. He runs an old-school, smash-mouth, type of offense that favors the running game, but provides a good balance of pass and run.
Although it is only January, football season has already begun. The optional strength and conditioning program began on Jan. 14 and is open to anyone who is interested. After the winter workouts, spring practice will begin, which will then roll into summer practices, and by August 2013 a new era of Carlmont football will be set to take off under direction of Coach Farhad.
