Second in a two-part series. Part I is here.
SAN JOSE — A number of observers concerned about Bellarmine’s demise in football have made a similar contention: the school’s admissions standards are preventing the program from fully accessing the diverse group of athletes available around the Bay Area.
“Admissions is always a subject that people are going to talk about,” said athletic director Kevin Saldivar, who is a member of Bellarmine’s admissions committee. “People have a perception that if you don’t have a certain GPA or certain belief, then you can’t come to Bellarmine. And that, for us, is just not accurate.
“We’re diverse in our student body in all ways, academically, socioeconomically, ethnically. We want everyone to apply to Bellarmine.”
Saldivar, who played football for the Bells before graduating in 2004, said Bellarmine is taking steps to attract students needed to excel at football and other sports.
He noted that the school’s administrators and coaches met this summer.
“What we had to do was really stop and evaluate where we were, where we are, and where we want to be,” Saldivar said. “It was a good exercise for the administration, for us, for the coaches, for the board, to really understand where we want Bellarmine football to be and where our expectations of Bellarmine football need to be.”
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What might that be?
“One of the best programs in the Bay Area is what we should be,” Diaz-Infante said.
Bellarmine head coach Dave Diaz-Infante watches over his team at a practice this month at the San Jose school. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Saldivar and Diaz-Infante acknowledged that Bellarmine may have overlooked the needs of its football program in recent years. And as Diaz-Infante noted, the Bells still have a ways to go to catch programs like Serra, St. Francis and Archbishop Riordan.
But Saldivar is steadfast that Bellarmine is aiming toward that goal.
“We filled our coaching staff on all three levels this year, 20 coaches, nine on the varsity level,” Saldivar said. “We were able to add two on-campus coaches, so a total of four for the varsity level, with plans and the idea to strategically add more on-campus coaches. The experience in high school and high school athletics, especially football, is one that doesn’t just happen from 3 to 5 (p.m.) after school when you have your coaches on campus.”
The program’s former head coach, Jalal Beauchman, now in his first season as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, is perhaps the clearest example of what Bellarmine is preaching. In his new role, he will lead outreach to middle school students, looking to identify future Bells and encourage them to apply.
Bellarmine offensive coordinator Jalal Beauchman works with players during a practice this month on the school’s campus. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Beauchman’s objective goes beyond the athletic department as he helps lead the Bellarmine United in Learning and Diversity (BUILD) program. But a lot of people around Bellarmine wouldn’t mind if some of the future applicants also happen to be standout athletes.
“We’ve got to go to places that we may not have been to recently and find guys and let them know that there’s a place for them over here at Bellarmine,” Diaz-Infante said. “And that’s been good. It’s reflected in our freshman class this year, and we’re gonna keep getting better. We’re gonna get more guys.”
Happening now
Bellarmine football players work on handoff drills during a practice this month. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
As bricks are being laid for the program’s future, Bellarmine still has to play a football season this fall. This year’s edition of the Bells will begin play against Sobrato on Aug. 29.
The season opener is notable for multiple reasons. For one, it will be Bellarmine’s first on-campus night game, an unprecedented feat for a school that has 175 years of history attached to its name.
The school plans to add temporary lights and bleachers and will hold a fanfest in its quad that will start a couple of hours before kickoff.
“We have a really big opportunity and a really great opportunity to really communicate and give the kids who are looking to come to high school that kind of information and opportunity,” Saldivar said. “It’s exciting.”
Bellarmine’s non-league schedule opened eyes because it features two opponents – Sobrato and Los Altos – that are below the “A-league” threshold as designated by the Central Coast Section. Historically, this is nearly as unprecedented as the Bells playing a home night game on campus.
Los Altos coach Mark Adams said his team was looking for a closer non-league matchup after facing Calaveras last season, a trip he described as “halfway up to Tahoe.” Hoping for a closer game, he reached out to Bellarmine, and the Bells said yes.
“It’s a great student-athlete experience at Bellarmine,” Adams said. “I have a lot of respect for them, and I want my kids to understand what we’re trying to build and what we’re trying to get to. It was all me reaching out to them and wanting to play a great traditional school and show our kids what good looks like.”
Sobrato coach Joel Rueda said he saw playing the Bells as an opportunity to prove to kids in Morgan Hill that they don’t need to leave town to play football at a high level.
“There’s a whole lot of our young people in our community that choose to go to Bellarmine, whether it’s for athletics or for a faith-based education or whatnot,” Rueda said. “This is our chance to show the community, ‘Hey, you don’t need to travel to a private school or to a whole ‘nother town to have an awesome education. You don’t have to travel far at all to get top-tier coaching and play for a good football program.’”
Diaz-Infante said playing Sobrato and Los Altos, as well as traditionally strong Jesuit, a school based in Carmichael near Sacramento, would help the Bells heading into West Catholic Athletic League play.
“Sobrato, they’re an up and coming program,” Diaz-Infante said. “Los Altos is rebuilding. It’s important that our schedule is appropriate for us to build some momentum, because we play in the toughest league in the Bay Area.”
Next steps
Bellarmine football players go through a practice that began at 6 a.m. this month in preparation for a season that kicks off Friday. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
It’s clear that Bellarmine football isn’t what it once was. The question now is what it will become.
For junior running back/linebacker Justin Donahue, a Bellarmine legacy, playing for the Bells is about more than just a simple high school experience.
“Bellarmine is my life, really,” Donahue said. “I’ve made a ton of friends here. It’s a brotherhood. It’s a family. It’s guys who want you to get better, both academically and athletically. All this comes together to make you a man who’s for and with others, which is what we learn here as a Jesuit school.”
In many ways, Donahue is the quintessential Bellarmine football player. His father, uncle, older brother and two of his cousins attended the school, and his little brother will likely do so as well.
Donahue has a simple objective for what he wants to accomplish with his teammates this fall.
“Success wouldn’t be about the record, but rather us being able to surprise people,” Donahue said. “Because even though I’m sure everyone’s heard about Bellarmine not being good – 0-10 this, 0-10 that – we need to surprise these people and show them that we’re a lot better than we were last year, and we’re actually a team that will put up a fight against all these guys.”
When Diaz-Infante was a player at Bellarmine, the Bells won their first CCS championship in the National division, then the top classification in the section, in 1981. They had rebounded from a 17-7 loss to Saratoga in the first National title game in 1980.
Those days are long gone.
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“Bellarmine needs to wash away what we’ve been these past few years,” Donahue said. “Everyone knows that Bellarmine was a powerhouse. And I think we can get a lot more people coming to Bellarmine who are more athletic to improve all of our sports and make us better overall.”
It’s possible that no one wants this more than Diaz-Infante. When discussing the Bells’ 0-10 record, he was visibly disgusted.
“It got everyone’s attention,” he said. “Because, look, you can’t do things the same way as when we went 0-10. I have to wear that more than anybody. And do you think I like it? No, absolutely not. I can’t stand it. Makes me want to puke.”
But when discussing Bellarmine’s future, he wasn’t just hopeful. He was emotional.
As he thought of his experience playing for the Bells, Diaz-Infante briefly found himself unable to communicate. The impact was profound enough to render him speechless, and he shed a few tears.
When he did regain his voice, he was resolute.
“Our job is to smooth off the rough edges,” he said. “Our job is to create opportunities for more kids from different backgrounds. I was one of those kids. I know what the school did for me. Sometimes, I think I care too much. There’s a lot of kids that can benefit from being here. And we’re committed to getting there.”