Former quarterback to be on-campus teacher and coach
The Windsor High School administration has tapped former star quarterback and Santa Rosa Junior College assistant Kevin Ballatore to lead the football program, ending a tumultuous and exhaustive three-month search for an on-campus coach.
Ballatore, who spent the last decade as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at SRJC, grew up in Valley Ford while prepping at Tomales High School. He went on to play for the Bear Cubs and later Southeast Missouri State College.
He succeeds former coach Tom Kirkpatrick, who stepped down in January after learning that the school was looking to replace him. Kirkpatrick had a highly successful two-year run at Windsor, guiding the Jags to an overall record of 16-9, including a trip to the North Coast Section Division 2 title game in December.
“Bringing Kevin on board as a teacher that will also serve as head coach for varsity football, continues the stabilization Tom Kirkpatrick and his staff brought to the program,” WHS Athletic Director Jeff Hardie said. “We look forward to many years of success both on and off the field of our student-athletes with Kevin on campus.”
The search for a successor to Kirkpatrick held its share of controversy and intrigue when Windsor hired Cardinal Newman coach Paul Cronin in a surprise move in January, only to see him rescind the post after just one week following a change of heart.
Ballatore figures to be a great mentor to young athletes while infusing the Windsor program with energy and experience, a seemingly perfect fit for continued success.
“I look forward to being a role model and see it as a big advantage to be an on-campus coach and teacher,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for Tom Kirkpatrick and the job he did here working with the kids. He left the football program in great shape.”
As a former quarterback, Ballatore favors an aggressive, high-powered offensive scheme that should pose a challenge to opposing defenses.
“We’re going to spread it out and be aggressive,” he said. “Defensively, we’re not going to sit back and let teams pick us apart, we’ll go after the quarterback.”
Although coaches are ultimately judged on wins and losses, Ballatore is keeping things in perspective while focusing on the bigger picture.
“We want to win and we’ll go into every season to compete for an NBL title, but more importantly, I want to teach life skills and build character,” he said. “I want our players to work hard and have great attitudes.”
The Jags new head coach hasn’t wasted any time in getting started, assembling most of his coaching staff while getting involved in both the off-season weight training program and promoting youth football in weekly clinics every Sunday (9:30-11:30 a.m.) at the high school field.
“I’ve been working with Matt De Meola in working with kids in an effort to build a football culture in the community,” Ballatore said. “The Sunday clinics are open to all kids in Sonoma County but we’re hoping to get a lot of local kids involved.”
Spring football on tap
The Jaguars will kick off spring football practices on May 15, running Monday-Friday for three weeks. Windsor will kick off the 2017 fall campaign on September 1 at Freedom High School in Oakley.
