Changing the narrative: City College

San-Francisco-City-College-football-team, Changing the narrative: City College, News & Views
San Francisco City College football team.

by Floyd Gordon

City College of San Francisco is coming into this upcoming season with a chip on its shoulder after transitioning from winning a National Championship in 2021 to only being able to qualify for a Bowl Game last season. Historically, in community college football, City College of San Francisco has been at the top of the food chain, still having the most national championships in the nation. 

The famous quote from Head Coach James Collins, “We always have a target on our back because we’re City College of San Francisco,” is due to the stamp they have put on community college football historically. In the last decade, City College has won two national championships. How do they go about changing the narrative? What can this new team do differently in order to get back on top? 

On May 13, 2023, the team hosted their spring game where the team was able to showcase skills they’ve been working on since February. Stepping onto the field, I could already feel the difference in energy compared to the previous Natty-winning team (NCAA). The football team had their DJ outside throughout the course of the game but there was still low energy. 

Generally speaking, in all athletic programs, energy is everything because your fellow teammates, coaching staff and fans feed off of that. It contributes to the overall morale of the team. It seems too laid-back and not as intense as what I’m used to seeing. 

The defense completely dominated the spring game. Defensive back Garnell Wildes states, in order for the defense to win the day, “we need three and outs and pick sixes. The offense can score points but defense wins championships.” That is what they continued to do throughout the game. Offensively, they could barely get a pass off due to the pocket collapsing too quickly. 

They looked a bit inexperienced and out of sync. First Team All-Bay 6 Kick Returner Tyrei Washington explains, “The defense is dominant now but it’s only temporary,” due to having minimal numbers offensively. But once fall camp begins, “it’ll be a different story.” 

This team will continue to bond and gel throughout these couple of months as more players and staff members get added to the team. As long as they can “hold each other accountable and trust one another,” says player Max Rodarte, they’ll do well when the season starts.

It is too early to draw the conclusion of whether or not they’ll be a contender this upcoming season. We see imperfections, but there is plenty of time to make those changes and/or corrections in order for this football team to get back on top. The motto for this year’s City College team is to focus on the details. 

Even though they have a bunch of additional players coming in the summer and fall camp, these players show promising leadership in order to point the young guys in the right direction, hopefully leading them to another national championship. 

Floyd Gordon is a student of the San Francisco Bay View’s Community Journalism Class, which is funded by the California State Library.