The Final Home Game
Select a photo from the grid below to view the photo story from Phoenix College’s final home game.
“We talked about representing three things. Representing the name on your back. Representing the name across your chest of Phoenix College. And representing that number and leaving your own legacy,” head coach Mark Mejia said.
What Now? Football is Gone
On the first day of training camp in August, Phoenix College had 113 student athletes there ready to compete and fight for a chance to get onto the field. By the time the final game rolled around on Nov. 10, coaches saw that number shrink by more than half.
According to coaching staff, in less than four months, over 50 players had quit.
Some of those players were sidelined due to injury; some of them quit because the team was not very good (they finished the season 1-10, 0-7 in conference); some quit because life came at them hard and football was not the priority anymore, head coach Mark Mejia said.
But more than half the players left PC football this season because they did not see the point in playing for team that would not be there the following season, Mejia said.
According to Mejia, the decision to end college football came just days before national signing day, which severely hampered recruiting. With players finding out that they had, at most, one season to play, players decommitted by the truckload. Mejia said he lost the majority of their recruiting class from the timing of the decision.
Not only did Phoenix College lose talented athletes, but four coaches left as well, including Robin Pflugrad, the head coach at the time.
With Pflugrad’s departure, PC elevated Mejia to the head coaching position. Mejia scrambled to put together a staff and a plan for spring ball that was quickly approaching.
Mejia said he tried to instill in his players that complacency and hopelessness are not admirable characteristics. Players like that would not play for him.
He and his staff told players every week, every day even, that there is something bigger that they should be fighting for.
“We talked about representing three things,” Mejia said. “ Representing the name on your back. Representing the name across your chest of Phoenix College. And representing that number and leaving your own legacy.”
Now, with the season over, it is all about getting athletes out to four year schools or getting them to another JUCO to finish their careers, Mejia said.
As for Mejia, football may also be over.
“It’s kind of surreal now,” Mejia said. “…Did I coach my last game? But, my focus is turned to my family and doing the what’s best for my wife and kids and see what we can do from there. If there’s an opportunity for football then, you know, shoot, I’ll be thankful. But if not, that’s just something I’ve got to prepare for.”
After the scoreboard hit zero on Phoenix College’s last game in Mesa, the players on both teams shook hands, the coaches said their congratulations and the teams met as a group. Mejia thanked his players for their hard work this season.
But, even after he let them go, players came over to Mejia and said, “no coach, thank you.”
His players flocked around him, asking for pictures, handshakes and hugs. Mejia said with misty eyes, “that’s what it’s all about. Right there.”
For the last nine months, Mejia hasn’t really cared about his job. He has cared for and about the players, he said. He has cared about his family. And he has cared about football.
“I’ve only been on campus one time (when) Mejia wasn’t here (in his office),” PC sophomore receiver De’Aundre Grant said. “I can just stop by. I actually go in there and watch film with him a lot. We will just go in there and talk with him. He has an open ear, open door 24/7.”
Mejia and his staff have been told they will remain at Phoenix College until April 2019, but after that, it’s done.
Still, Mejia is thinking about his players first. During the season, he has been doing his due diligence to make sure they are prepared for life after the season. By speaking to every player individually, he made efforts to pinpoint all of their future goals.
“Some guys are talking about going to other JUCOs, and we’ll help them with that,” Mejia said. “We’re going to do our best to help educate them on what’s best for them.”
That’s just who he is, he said. This isn’t about the money for him, this is about the players.