Tustin’s new football coach Anthony Lopez takes over for the legendary Myron Miller

Anthony Lopez was Tustin’s offensive coordinator last season. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Tustin High’s new head football coach Anthony Lopez realizes he faces a challenge taking over for legendary long-time coach Myron Miller, who resigned after last season.

“Those are big shoes to fill, I’m going to try and do my best; Myron left his mark,” Lopez said. “I’m just hoping to carry on that tradition.”

Lopez is no stranger to the Tillers with two stints at Tustin, including last year when he was the offensive coordinator. While Tustin will use a pro style offense, different from the double wing which Miller ran most of his years at Tustin, some of Miller’s philosophies will remain.

“We’re looking to get North-South being a football physical team and that’s kind of what Tustin High is known for,” Lopez said. “We’re still having that same mentality. The scheme might be a little different but that tough, hard-nosed football is ingrained in our kids.”

Lopez, 31, has been coaching football for 14 years. He was at Damien High School for seven years, coached at Tustin for three years, Mission Viejo for two and then returned to Tustin for another two-year stint.

Now, he’s happy to have the opportunity to get a chance at his first head coaching job and one of his main assistant coaches will be former Tiller standout, USC All-American and NFL lineman Sam Baker.

“Tustin is a unique place, it has one of the best histories in Orange County with tons of talented players, Sam is one of them and we believe we can get it back there,” he said. “It’s going to be a long process and we knew that coming in.

“But our big thing is just to help these kids at Tustin. We felt we could help them and grow the program.”

Lopez said he has coached almost every position and at Mission Viejo, he was the wide receivers coach. He and Baker share the same goals for the program.

“Maybe one of the biggest reasons I’m here is because of Sam,” Lopez said. “He and I kind of came into this together. We have a shared vision of what Tustin High School can be.”

Tustin will run a pro-style offense, “very similar to what we were at Mission Viejo,” Lopez said. “There will be a lot more passing and play-action pass. I learned a lot on the pass game from Rob Johnson and Bob (Johnson, the head coach).

“Our kids can relate very well because they can see it on Sunday. We got some really good running backs and we have a great group of receivers, they’re giving us 100 percent, everything they got and that’s all we can ask really of our players.”

Lopez said that Miller, who was 75 at the time, helped the transition when he informed the coaches early last season that it would be his final year as the Tillers coach. Miller later joined Scott Meyer’s staff at Lakewood.

“He made it as smooth as possible for me and Sam,” Lopez said. “We really got our feet wet and it really helped a lot, seeing what needed to change and what needed to be done, rather than us just coming in the off-season and not really knowing what was going on.”

Lopez said he believes there is potential for the Tillers to do well. Tustin was 4-7 overall and 3-2 in the Empire League last season, advancing to the opening round of the CIF playoffs.

“For the type of offense we’re running, we’re in good shape,” he said. “We have a lot of really good linemen and we’re going to be able to run the ball very well. Defensively, in terms of scheme, it’s similar to what we did last year, a little more detailed.

“It’s all coming together. It might take us a few weeks to gel and get it going, but that’s to be expected. I expect by week 10 we should be hitting our best foot on the ground.”

The goal for the season is simple, he said.

“By the time we get to the playoffs and week 10, we’re playing our best football,” Lopez said. “What we kind of strive for as a staff is to get 100 percent effort out of our kids. We’re heading in that direction.”

Lopez and Baker will share the offensive duties. Lopez will call the passing plays and Baker the run plays.

Lopez was raised in Azusa and played high school football at Damien High. He and his wife Janae have two sons, Nate, 10; and Jaxson, 3.

He is excited about what lies ahead for Tustin football.

“Building community and that sense of family is something I’m striving for as head coach to kind of get that back,” he said. “That’s kind of lost its way the last few years for whatever reason, but we’ve got a great group of parents willing to work and it’s starting to come together.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com