Alexander ‘coming home’ after stint on east coast
Storied local football player Greg Alexander is returning to Sonoma County in July to take up the reins of the Cloverdale High School football program and step into the classroom as the new social studies teacher.
“First, he’s going to be a social studies teacher,” said CHS principal Chris Meredith. “We don’t put athletics over academics, but it’s always best to have coaches in those roles. If you’ve got a person on campus, it really helps.”
Alexander was a star athlete at Piner High School and went on to set passing records at Santa Rosa Junior College. He was the lead quarterback at the University of Hawaii with a lot of chatter about a pro career until a horrific knee injury ended his playing career.
He took up coaching locally before deciding what he really wanted was a career in the classroom. He and his wife, also a Sonoma County native and Piner grad, have been in Connecticut in recent years, as she finished her PhD and he got his teaching credential and two master’s degrees at the University of Connecticut. Both of them wanted to come home to Sonoma County, and the timing dovetailed perfectly with a position opening at CHS. From there, it was an easy choice for Meredith, who had had Alexander as a student his very first year of his own teaching career.
“He was in the first class of students that I taught when I was a 23-year-old teacher,“ Meredith said. “Greg was a senior at Piner, and I got to know him that way and coach him there. When he applied for the position, I knew we would be getting somebody of high quality, character and ability.”
“Obviously, I’m very excited about (the position),” Alexander said. “Knowing Chris for a long time, it’s pretty cool to go back and get a chance to work for him. I grew up in Santa Rosa and always heard great things about Cloverdale.”
“We’re getting one of the best coaches in Sonoma County, and we think he’s going to be a great teacher as well,” Meredith said. “He has the ability and the drive to make a difference in the classroom. And, being a sports-oriented community, he’s a big name in the local sports scene. Other schools really wanted him, but we also want to make sure that the community knows we were looking for an excellent teacher first and foremost, and we think we got that and more with Greg.”
Alexander had a chance to meet briefly with his future team after he was hired, but will be moving to the area in July.
“I’m pretty familiar (with the Cloverdale program). I grew up in Sonoma County and coached there a lot of years, so I knew quite a bit about them and the league they play in,” Alexander said. “I’ve spent a lot of time in that area and I follow (their league) pretty closely, so I feel pretty familiar with the league.
“But, I’m really excited about the opportunity to not only coach, but move up there and imbed ourselves in the community and be active with the team and build a community and culture with the football program,” Alexander concluded.
