The Soquel High Football Team had quite the year. They ended the season 13-2, winning 2023 California Interscholastic Federation Division 4-AA title. This is the first time any school football team has achieved this in Santa Cruz county… ever. We talked to Coach Dwight Lowery, a former pro turned coach. Hey coach! Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Sure! I was Born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. I grew up on Maple Street in Santa Cruz, went to Bay View elementary school and attended the Santa Cruz Boys and Girls club. Moved over to the east side of Santa Cruz and attended Green Acres elementary, Shoreline, and Soquel High School. I grew up playing all sports and anything competitive. Cabrillo College alumni (2004-2005). San Jose State alumni and 2022 Sports Hall of Fame Inductee. Former professional American football safety in the NFL for the New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers. I have lived all over Santa Cruz County as well as all throughout the country during my playing career. Current head football coach at Soquel High.
What inspired you to get into coaching?
I wanted to provide something to the kids that I didn’t have while I was in high school. I have a lot of experience that I could share with the kids and wanted to be in a position where I could do that. I really wanted to do some youth sports training where I would be able to interact with any and all athletes in the area, but the opportunity to be the head coach at my alma mater happened and I took the opportunity to do it. In a lot of ways it limits the amount of athletes I would be able to work with due to the commitment of the sport and avoiding any recruiting issues, but I recently started a flag football league that K-7th graders can be a part of. I’m hopeful that more opportunities to work with athletes will be available in the future because I really feel like I have a lot more to offer than just being a football coach.
What have you learned going from a player to a coach?
That sometimes coaches make the game much harder on the players than it needs to be. Communication and making sure that everyone is on the same page is very important. I also think that I have a better understanding of why coaches made some of the decisions that they made when I was a player as there is a lot more that goes into decisions than what the players know or realize.
Your team has been on quite the tear recently. What has made them so successful? What challenges have they had to deal with?
They’ve been successful because they have put in the work and we’ve had excellent players who care. The kids have the same challenges that every high school kid deals with whether they are playing a sport or not. Some have issues at home, or struggle with being motivated in the classroom for example. It’s not easy being a student-athlete as a teenager with all the influence that is around them.
Football can be all consuming. How does the team manage all the demands coming at them from football to academics to being a normal teenager?
Football should be fun. Yes there are times that it isn’t fun but the overall experience is meant to be fun. It’s a great way for the kids to get their mind off the stresses that they may experience. At the same time we try to be very intentional with the time that we have together, knowing that there are other responsibilities that we all have outside of the game. It really comes down to communication and balancing our responsibilities.
Working out is just a piece of the puzzle. How do you motivate your team to get proper sleep and nutrition?
I think this is something that you have to be aware of as a coach and there are a lot of different methods that can be used to motivate them to sleep and eat. Having food available for them is definitely helpful, educating them about food is helpful as well. Sleep is probably the hardest thing to balance with being a student-athlete and wanting to have a social life, so we stay aware of those types of things and adjust when necessary.
Conflicts are not usually good for a team. How do you help your team bond, avoid conflicts, and connect with one another?
Football is not a game that favors selfish people. There are different things that a team can do to help create a bond but the players on the team have to be willing to allow for it to happen. Winning also helps with team bonding. When it comes to conflict I don’t think that avoiding those are a good thing for a team, sometimes avoiding conflict will hold your team back from reaching it’s potential.
It is easy to become complacent when everything is going your way. How does the team stay motivated to put in the work to stay on their A-game?
I don’t ever think that everything is going our way. I think that you can increase the chances of things going your way if you prepare and understand what we have to do as a team because every team is new and different from the last team.
What are you most looking forward to for the rest of 2024?
Coaching the 2024 football team and embracing the challenge of getting every team’s best game knowing that we have something more to defend.
Is there anything else we should know about you and coaching?
I’m always looking at how to get better or progress. I’d love to get in contact with anyone that has ideas or interested in action for supporting all youth sports in the area. I think there are enough parents in the community that want more emphasis with youth athletics. Whether it be better coaching, facilities that are tailored towards youth sports, or more enthusiasm for growing youth sports in our area to compete against other areas. Those are the type of people that I would love to get in touch with to see if something more can be done for youth sports.
Where can people find out more about the team, or come check out a game?
On instagram @soquel.football, Maxpreps search for Soquel for our game schedule, our school website, contacting Soquel High.
Thanks Coach, thats all the questions we have for you! Get your ticket to the NEXTies to come say hi to him and other movers and shakers being highlighted at this years’ May 17th NEXTies awards! See you there!
