Mike Turpin is back at Turlock Christian for his second stint as the Eagles' head varsity football coach.
Turpin brought the Eagles football team their only league title since beginning the program back in 2003 and is hoping for similar success as he takes over a football squad that has been on a downward spiral — only amassing two winning records since 2005.
“I was the first coach of TC football in 2003. When I was hired I was told we might struggle and not win a game in 2003, but we went undefeated in league and then made the playoffs our second year,” said Turpin about his first two years with TC.
Since then, the Eagles have had a tough time staying consistent.
From 2006-2015, the Eagles have accumulated a league record of 10-49 and went winless in five of those years, including three one-win seasons in league.
There have only been two winning seasons since then for the Eagles, including a six and 10-win year.
After moving to the Bay Area for a few years to take care of his ailing mother, Turpin decided to move back to the Valley three years ago and was the Denair High girls varsity basketball head coach for the 2014-15 season and led the Coyotes to a 7-14 record.
Since then he took over the Ceres High girls basketball program and last year went 10-12 overall.
“Not an issue, I am used to doing multiple coaching positions,” said Turpin of handling the basketball and football programs for two different schools. “That is how I was trained and have been working hard with the boys as well to get ready for the football season."
Last year, the Eagles went 1-9 overall and 0-5 in the CCAA and were outscored by opponents an average of 41.4-16.2.
“The reason, in my opinion, why the program has struggled is because it is a small school that doesn't get a ton of athletes,” said Turpin. “Also, some coaches that come in don't bend to their team's strengths or weaknesses, they just implement their schemes and hope it works.”
It hasn't, but Turpin is confident that he will bring out the full potential of the team for the upcoming season and has begun to work with their weakest factor—conditioning.
“We need to work hard and I got a personal trainer for the kids to work on conditioning. They are getting into the best shape they have ever been in,” said Turpin. “That is how you win league, you win in the offseason and the kids love it.”
