OM’s Coach G Becomes Long Reach’s AD

After many years of working at (and attending!) Oakland Mills, Coach Gonzalez sadly left us in early October after receiving a promotion to be the new Athletic Director at Long Reach High School. 

Coach G, as many called him, worked in student engagement here at OM, as well as coaching multiple sports. 

Before working at OM, Coach Gonzalez started teaching at Sheppart Pratt, an alternative school for children with behavioral issues. Gonzalez then went to graduate school at the University of Oregon to get his teaching degree and was soon hired at OM, his alma mater, where he remained for thirteen years. 

When asked about what he would miss about OM, Gonzalez says, “Maaan, everything.” But the most important thing to him is the kids. He enjoyed helping the student community, whether it was teaching or coaching. Coach Gonzalez’s favorite accomplishment at OM was being part of an excellent coaching staff, including football, track, and a season of basketball. His goal was to bring their programs back to “greatness,” which he succeeded in. The football team has been a part of two Final Four appearances in the last four years. Track has won several boys’ and girls’ state titles. Last year, Coach G and the other basketball coaches earned their first playoff win with the new coaching staff. Gonzalez wanted to express his gratitude to the coaches he worked with. “Shout out to all those coaches; they’re built different.” He loved seeing the impact he had on it all; seeing his former students come back to teach or coach meant the world to him.

“I’m proud of all my teams,” Gonzalez said. He went on to say that he always felt OM athletes were different because “your work ethic and camaraderie stand out to me. There are special parts of all the teams I’ve coached. Like this year’s football squad.” He highlighted both the 2021 Final Four football team and the 2022 state championship girls’ and boys’ track team. This particular group was so memorable to him because a lot of them were multi-sport athletes, so he spent multiple seasons working with some of the athletes. Gonzalez also highlighted last year’s boys’ and girls’ track state championship teams because “No one expected them to achieve what they did,” especially being such a young underclassmen group. Last but not least, Coach Gonzalez wanted to highlight his 23-24 JV football team, which had an amazing 9-0 record. He expressed his gratitude by saying, “I really have been blessed to coach so many great kids.”

With all of his athletic experience, making the jump to Athletic Director should be no problem for Coach G. His new role will be working with managing people and budgets. It is directly related to athletics, so it does “keep him close to coaching.” Gonzalez also gets to work on building school-wide culture and processes so that teams can be successful. Coach G jokingly said, “Though it is not as fun as coaching. The transition to the school has been smooth. The kids and the staff, and the community at Long Reach have been very welcoming.” He’s been busy, but he enjoys it.

Coach G is looking forward to getting to know new kids and coaches at Long Reach. Gonzalez is extremely excited to help build a school-wide championship culture. 

We thank Coach Gonzalez for everything he’s done for the Oakland Mills community in his time here. Whether it was teaching or coaching, he made a huge impact on the students here, including me. I wish Coach G the best of luck at Long Reach, and I know he will change it all for the better.

Thank you, Coach G