The Hilmar High School football program began a new chapter this week with the hiring of a new head coach to succeed Frank Marques, who wrapped up his legendary, 23-year career last month.
On Tuesday night, the Hilmar Unified School District Board of Education appointed Mark Santos as the next varsity head coach for the Yellowjackets. Santos is an alumnus of Hilmar High, and has coached in different capacities within the football program for over 20 years.
“It’s a great honor to take over for someone like Frank, who has accomplished so much here,” Santos told the Journal on Thursday. “I’ve gotten a lot of words of encouragement and a ton of support from the community since it was announced, and I’m grateful for the trust everyone had put in, and I’m excited to keep the ball rolling on what Frank has built here.”
Marques won 199 of 274 games (.726), eight league titles, four section banners, a NorCal championship, and a state crown in his career, and Santos has been there for almost all of it. It made sense that when Marques began contemplating following the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Santos was a prime candidate to carry the baton.
After being a varsity coordinator for a run of nine seasons, Santos was enlisted to serve as junior varsity head coach in 2024 to sharpen his skills. As the JV skipper, Santos led the Yellowjackets to a 16-4 overall record, including a 9-3 standing against Trans-Valley League opponents.
Like Marques, Santos is a Hilmar man through and through, born and raised in the small town just south of Turlock and brought up through the Hilmar Unified school system, graduating from HHS in 2005. In his four years in high school, primarily as a tight end and defensive end, the ‘Jackets lost just five games as one of the most dominant forces in the region.
After a year away from football after graduating, Santos returned to the gridiron for the 2006 season as the freshman-level offensive coordinator. In 2009, he was promoted to head coach, a position he served in until 2012 as he transitioned to JV offensive coordinator. Santos made the jump to varsity in 2015 to serve as the team’s defensive coordinator, helping the ‘Jackets win section titles in 2017 and 2018, including the 2018 state crown. He made the switch to varsity offensive coordinator in 2019.
“Being here 20 years, I already knew how supportive the community is of the football program,” Santos said. “We have a great boosters program, great assistant coaches up and down the ranks, great coaches returning, so I’m super excited to hit the ground running.
“Marques has really set the foundation for me to come in, and I know a lot of coaches aren’t afforded that, so I’m super grateful and super excited to get going with this team.”
This past season, the varsity Yellowjackets were 7-5 overall following a 3-3, fifth-place finish in the ultra-competitive TVL, appearing in the semifinal round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs.
Santos held his first team meeting as head coach on Thursday.
“We have a lot of kids returning, so our team should be pretty good,” Santos said. “And we recognize how good the TVL is with Ripon, Hughson, Escalon, RC (Ripon Christian) always being really good teams, and Sonora is just a machine (heading into the weekend in search of their second straight state championship. It’s going to be another year of good, tough football, and we’re looking forward to the challenge. I’m excited for what’s to come.”
