Southwestern College Head Football Coach Wins Top Honors

Going into his 12th year with the Jaguars, Head Coach Ed Carberry currently stands as the second all-time-winning coach at Southwestern College. At 72 wins, he needs just three wins to take the first-place spot from veteran head coach Bob Mears.

But if you ask him, his successes are not just game victories—they're the student-athletes on the field of DeVore Stadium who are on the verge of finding victories off the field. The football program's key focus is preparing these students to graduate and transfer and possibly helping them play at the university level, preferably on a full-ride scholarship. Since 2007, close to 200 Jaguars have transferred with scholarships to four-year football programs.

This past academic year has been one of success and victories for Carberry, both on and off the field. He led the Jaguars to victory in both the Mountain League Championship and the American Bowl Conference Championship. He was recently awarded Football Coach of the Year for Region IV, the 2017-2018 Pacific Athletic Conference Male Sports Coach of the Year and Southwestern College Men's Coach of the Year.

"Whoever comes here, wherever they came from, whatever their aspirations are, they stay at Southwestern College because they've found value here," Carberry said. "We're trying to do that for every player that walks in our door so that they leave having valued their time here."

His players have gone on to play at universities big and small, including schools like Arizona State University, University of Washington and the University of California, Los Angeles. Former Jaguars currently play for the Los Angeles Rams, the Oakland Raiders and the Canadian Football League.

The football program prides itself on emphasizing the "student" in student-athlete. Carberry said a lot of what he and the coaches talk to their students about is succeeding academically and having a long-range vision of what they want to do with their lives.

"It's all about seeing them when they're 35 years old, married with kids and a job they like going to—that's when we've succeeded," he said. "We're not preparing students for ESPN or MTV, we're preparing them for their real lives."

The first Jaguar home game of the season is against San Diego Mesa College on Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. at DeVore Stadium. For more on the Jaguar football program, visit http://southwesternjaguars.com/.