Spartans Paving the Way at the Professional, Collegiate, and High School Level Football

De La Salle alums are also sprinkled into the professional and collegiate ranks. Brian Callahan ‘01 just completed his 14th season in the NFL and fourth as the Offensive Coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals. Like those before him, Brian credits De La Salle for laying the groundwork for his life as a coach. “My time and experience at De La Salle is the foundation of my entire career,” said Callahan. “Learning what it meant to be a great teammate, to commit to something greater than oneself, to love and work FOR each other to reach goals.”

“I learned what sacrifice and real hard work looked like – I learned how to compete with everything I had,” he continues. “I lean on the lessons from De La Salle every day. I’ve used them with our players currently, I reference Coach Lad on multiple different occasions to our offense. There are traits that championship teams share that carry across all levels and all sports – I learned them all as a Spartan. They have only been confirmed on my coaching journey through three Super Bowl appearances.”

After helping the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance in 2022 and an AFC Championship appearance in 2023, Callahan is in line to become a future head coach in the NFL. Callahan understands that coaching in the professional ranks is very different from coaching at the high school level. “Professional sports is a different atmosphere and an avenue to shape the lives of players,” said Callahan. “It’s a business and there are livelihoods at stake. However, the foundation of coaching is the same at every level. Players need to know how much you care about them, how invested you are in them as people, and they have to trust you to put them in the best positions to be successful.”

When reflecting on his time at De La Salle, Callahan recalls the people that made the most impact on his life and the desire to lead others through coaching. “Outside of my parents, there is no group of people who have had a bigger impact on me as a person and a professional. Coach Lad and Coach Eidson provided incredible mentorship as a young man, they shaped a large part of who I am today. Patrick Walsh is one of the core mentors I’ve had in my life – he coached me when he was an assistant at De La Salle and gave me my first job with him at Serra. Coach Panella had the most immediate impact on me as my position coach and it’s a relationship I still maintain to this day. And as silly as it sounds, I have a copy of Coach Lad’s book in my office. I am incredibly proud to be a Spartan.”

Others who have benefited from learning from the “De La Salle way” include Tosh Lupoi ‘02, who was on staff at Alabama for a pair of national championships, and is now the Defensive Coordinator at the University of Oregon, and Nick Holtz ‘02 who currently serves as the Passing Game Coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, after spending three seasons as the Offensive Coordinator at UNLV.

Basketball

When compared to the football program, the De La Salle basketball coaching tree got off to a late start. However, it is really picking up steam. Currently, 12 Spartans hold coaching positions at the pro, college, and high school levels.

Justin Joyner ‘06, a member of the 2006 De La Salle state championship team, is in his sixth season at Saint Mary’s College and first as the Associate Head Coach. This season, Justin helped lead the Gaels to a five-seed in the 2023 NCAA Basketball Tournament, after posting a 25-7 regular season record. During his time with the Saint Mary’s program, the Gaels have posted a 143-50 overall record, advancing to the post-season five times, including three NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and two National Invitational Tournament (NIT) appearances.

We asked Justin how De La Salle helped prepare him for his current role, “As a coach you are a mentor, a leader, an example, and a servant. The mission of De La Salle, “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve,” SPRING is something that has really fueled the way I’ve lived my life. As coaches, it is our duty to pour into these young men everything we can so that we can give them the best chance at success. It really is a servant’s mentality, it’s all about the players.”

Brothers Gus Argenal ‘99 and Justin Argenal ‘04 are also making an impact at the collegiate level. Gus has been coaching college basketball for 20 years and is in his second season as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas. The Razorbacks earned an eight-seed in the 2023 NCAA Basketball Tournament, after posting an Elite 8 finish in 2021. In addition to his time at Arkansas, Gus has coached at Cal State Fullerton (2019-21), the University of Nevada, Reno (2017-19), Cal State East Bay (2013-17) where he was the head coach, Rice (2012-13), UC Davis (2011-12), and Chico State (2008-11). Gus’ brother, and former De La Salle head basketball coach (2016-21), Justin, recently finished his second season as the head coach of Dominican University in San Rafael.

Other basketball alumni coaches include Zach Payne ‘09, who finished his fourth season as an Assistant Coach at the University of Montana, Sean O’Donnell ‘17, who is the Director of Basketball Operations at UC Irvine, and Holden Wright ‘17, who is a Graduate Assistant at Saint Mary’s College.

De La Salle Hall of Famer Brent Barry ‘90 serves as the Vice President for Basketball Operations with the San Antonio Spurs and General Manager of the Austin Spurs, the NBA G-League affiliate of the Spurs. Greg St. Jean ‘08 (Dallas Mavericks) and Beau Levesque ‘09 (Los Angeles Clippers) are working their way up through the NBA ranks, and both are part of teams that are in playoff contention in the Western Division of the NBA. Greg is now in his second season as an assistant coach with the Mavericks. He has also worked for the Lakers and the Kings in the NBA as well as had four seasons as an assistant coach at St. John’s University. Levesque is working with his second NBA team and is nearing the end of the second season as a player development coach for the Clippers. He also worked two seasons in the same role with the Brooklyn Nets, after breaking into the coaching arena with St. John’s University in 2016.

Many of these former basketball players learned the sport under the tutelage of Frank Allocco, who led the Spartans for 18 seasons, from 1997-2015. During his time as De La Salle’s head coach, Allocco led the Spartans to 17 league championships, three NorCal titles, and two state championships (2000 and 2006), while seeing 60 players move on to play college basketball.

Joyner, who was one of those players to move on to the collegiate level, had this to say about Coach Allocco’s leadership, “At De La Salle, I was blessed to be around some special leaders. For me, the influence of Coach Allocco was as important as any influence I’ve had in my life. As a coach, he taught me how to be a better player on the floor. As a leader, he empowered us to give everything we had for the betterment of the greater good. It’s all about the team. And most importantly, as a mentor, he taught us that how you do anything is how you do everything. The way we compete on the floor is the way we will compete in life. How we show up for our team on the floor will mirror how we show up for our team in life.”

Baseball, Soccer, and Golf

Other Spartans are making an impact at the professional and college level in sports like baseball, soccer, and golf.

In the baseball arena, Brenton Del Chairo ‘97 and Mike Brdar ‘12 are coaching at the highest level. Del Chairo is now in his seventh season with the Milwaukee Brewers, and second as the team’s hitting coordinator, while Brdar enters his first year as the hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers. Mike Sansoe ‘01, Bryan Byrne ‘02, and Anthony Aliotti ‘06 continue to work in the scouting departments for the Pirates, Nationals, and Athletics, respectively.

Scott Hardy ‘94, whose son Will is a current sophomore at De La Salle, has made a name for himself in the college golf scene, where he has been the head coach of the Saint Mary’s golf team since 2002. In his 21 seasons in Moraga, he’s been named the West Coast Conference Coach of the Year eight times and led the Gaels to the NCAA Regionals 10 times with two NCAA Championship appearances.

In soccer, a pair of De La Salle Hall of Famers are assistant coaches for the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. Adin Brown ‘96 is now the goalkeeper coach for the club and Chris Wondolowski ‘01 is an assistant coach. Both are in their first season in these roles.

Alumbaugh had one more thing to add about Lad’s influence on him, which can also be applied to all the De La Salle alums who are currently coaching or who have been a coach, “When Lad was talking me into becoming a coach, he told me a very simple thing, ‘Coaching is a very noble profession if you do it right. If you’re not just chasing wins, it’s a real noble profession.’ I wake up every day and I feel like what I’m doing is having an impact on people’s lives. Because of that, it has an impact on my life and I feel good about what I’m doing and, like Lad said, it feels noble.”