Monte Vista is in the search for a new football coach after Jesse Bethel grad C.J. Anderson, the former Cal and NFL running back, stepped down to join the staff at Rice University.
In his only season at the Danville school, Monte Vista finished 7-3 and reached the North Coast Section playoffs.
“I never thought I would be one and done,” Anderson wrote in a tweet Friday. “But I want to thank @MVHS_Football for the opportunity to lead you guys.”
He added, “It hurts now but the future is bright over there.”
Anderson, who helped the Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium, will coach the running backs at Rice, according to his Twitter bio.
The move to Houston is a big loss for Monte Vista.
“Day one, when he came in and gave his first talk, I think everyone’s confidence just shot through the roof,” running back Rocco Schramm told the Bay Area News Group last fall. “He was talking about … how he was going to change the identity of this program.
“He’s not going to treat us like a high school program. He’s going to treat us like an NFL team, which has really shown.”
Monte Vista won its first seven games under Anderson after not winning a game the previous spring. The Mustangs ended last fall on a three-game losing streak, falling to Clayton Valley Charter and San Ramon Valley to end the regular season and California in the first round of the NCS Division I playoffs.
