San Lorenzo Valley High announced earlier this month that it has hired Doug Costa to take over duties as the school’s newest athletic director.
“I always wanted a PE job at a high school so I can coach where I teach,” Costa said. “I just wasn’t getting that at the middle school [level]. I had tenure, 14 years, and I was set. But I just always had to leave to get my high school coaching fix. So, this is an opportunity to do that.”
Costa has an extensive coaching resume, leading the basketball and wrestling programs for 15 and six years, respectively, at both Ocala STEAM Academy and Mathson middle schools in San Jose.
On top of that, Costa was also a prep football coach at Los Altos, James Lick and Evergreen for four years, before settling at Cupertino. His eight years of experience as a middle school athletic director and hanging out at league meetings for football is all the confidence he needed to apply at SLV.
He will be helped by SLV alumna Mia Torres, who is both the assistant athletic director and junior varsity girls’ volleyball coach.
Prior to accepting the position, Costa was asked to coach the junior varsity football team. Even though he was intimidated about juggling between athletic director, coaching and teaching duties, he still took on the role.
“I’m confident that I can take on the role as a JV position coach and the role of AD,” he said.
Costa, 56, grew up on the east side of San Jose until he was about 10 years old. He then moved to the San Fernando Valley, where he attended and played sports at Quartz Hill High near Palmdale.
Costa continued his studies at Antelope Valley Junior College, and was set to take the path of becoming a firefighter. That was before Humboldt State—an NCAA Division II school—offered him a chance to play football as a wide receiver until he graduated in 1992.
One of the issues Costa wants to tackle at SLV is the lack of student participation in athletics, and perhaps add an after-school sport that’s popular on campus.
“If they’re asking about lacrosse, let’s try to go get a lacrosse team,” he said.
Costa said he’ll continue to work on improving facilities starting with the locker room, and support academics to the fullest.
“They kind of feed off each other because every parent wants the best of both worlds,” he said.
Costa added that he’s received tons of support from friends who are current coaches, urging him to go forward with new opportunities and not worry about being perfect.
“I waited a long time and changed my career just to coach,” he said. “The only way was to go back to school and get my teaching credential, and just try to shift gears here before my hair gets too white.”
