Jon Michael Porras had a feeling Friday's faculty meeting would be like this.
It was the first gathering of the year for the Live Oak High School teaching staff, and Porras was one of the most popular people there. That's life when you're the head football coach and it's August.
"People were coming up to me left and right and saying, 'you better win that game,'" Porras said, alluding to Live Oak's Sept. 5 season-opener against rival Sobrato. "I have a lot of friends this time of the year. I'm hoping to keep them."
Entering his second fall camp as Acorns head coach, Porras feels more at home - but admits his honeymoon is over. For most coaches, an eight-win first season complete with a trip to section finals and a victory over your rival would fortify peace of mind.
Not for Porras.
"You can't be comfortable based on what happened last year," the Live Oak alumnus said. "The fans certainly aren't going to do that. We still feel like no one respects us in this town. For a long time, this program consistently had great seasons. Then it fell off for two or three recently, and everyone lost faith in Acorn football. They think last year was a fluke. We're out to prove them wrong this year. It's a lot to take on."
It's an especially large task, considering Live Oak will be without Glen Webb for the first time in more than two decades. Webb was a longtime head coach who later became offensive coordinator for Porras. He left the program after recently being named the new assistant principal at Martin Murphy Middle School.
"That's going to hurt us," said Porras, who'll run the Acorns' fly-option offense in place of Webb. "Glen was a big help for me last season when I became head coach.
"He told me about his situation in advance, so I was prepared for this. The program's really going to miss having him."
Now for the good news. Live Oak opened two-a-day practice last week with a healthy complement of 52 varsity players - more than enough to accommodate the team's two-platoon system. Only a handful of those were out of uniform Friday, nursing minor injuries.
The Acorns aren't as far along as Porras hoped they'd be, following a summer regimen that included four full-contact camps, but their promise is unmistakable.
"This team can be even better than last year," Porras said. "They haven't learned the offense as quickly as I'd hoped, but we have our base down.
"If we had to play tomorrow, I'd feel comfortable with the guys we have. They have a lot of potential, but it's up to them to reach it."
Most of the offense's returning skill players did so last season. Dual-threat quarterback Jeff Roberts led the way as one of only three juniors to make the first-team all-Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division list. Despite suffering a season-ending injury during the Acorns' first-round playoff win over Sobrato, Roberts finished the year as Live Oak's second-leading rusher behind departed senior Steven Rodriguez.
"It's great being back out here," said Roberts, who reeled off 598 yards rushing and 553 yards passing in 2007. "Offensively, we're pushing ourselves to the limit. We want to get better."
Roberts and company are working with the right tools. They play against the Acorns' first-team defense every snap at practice.
"From a quarterback's standpoint, they're very tough to play against," Roberts added. "We have a lot of good athletes on defense, and they know our playbook. It doesn't get harder than that."
The feeling is mutual.
"It's nice playing against a good offense," free safety James Hamblin said. "We like playing against an offense like ours because we run a lot. That means we get to hit more."
As expected, Porras has no concern for his offensive backfield, which includes veteran ball-carriers Jeff Blean and Billy Van Aiken. Porras, however, is still waiting for his young front five to congeal.
"Right now, they're still missing assignments and blocking the wrong guys," Porras said. "We need them to get better."
Porras bolstered the interior by moving Eric Dean from tackle to strong-side guard.
"I like the change," said Dean, a 6-foot-1 200-pound senior. "It's a lot more fun. You get to pull on traps and take out the tackles."
Dean, who's Live Oak's lone veteran lineman, has watched his greener peers make strides this summer.
"Experience is important," he began, "but it all comes down to game mentality. You have to be able to focus out there and do your best. I think we have some athletic guys on the line that are built the right way mentally and physically."
All things considered, Porras viewed his team as the current underdog for Sept. 5 - and not just to be on the safe side.
"Sobrato has to be favored," he said. "They had more starting juniors last year and more veterans coming back. We're nervous. There'd be something wrong with you if you weren't. That's not to say we won't be ready. Our seniors don't want to be the first class to lose to Sobrato."
Less than three weeks from the El Toro Bowl, any mental edge helps.
Scott J. Adams Scott J. Adams covers Morgan Hill sports for South Valley Newspapers. Send him an email or call him at 779-4106.
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