Mike Machado: A Coach's Legacy

When Saratoga High School beat Palma in the 1996 CCS Championship Game, coach Mike Machado knew that that would be his last as the Falcons coach. Although Saratoga's program was thriving in just his second year as the varsity head coach, Machado knew that he could never replace his predecessor, Benny Pierce, whose 269 wins, 16 league titles and four CCS championship triumphs from 1961 through 1994 still echo'd in Saratoga's hallways. Mike Machado knew that although he could still have an impact in the Saratoga community, it would be best is he found a program to truly call his own.

So in the fall of 1997, Mike Machado took over as the head coach of Valley Christian High School in nearby San Jose. In those days, the Warriors resided in the former Branham High School campus, awaiting for the day when their home on Skyway Boulevard would be completed. Nestled in a league weaker than he would have preferred, Machado promptly led the team to the playoffs in 1998 and 1999, each year ending in a loss in the CCS Championship Game. Still, even in the face of defeat, Mike Machado never lost faith in his program and continued to grind and build, forever seeking ways to get his team into one of the toughest leagues in the Bay Area, the vaunted West Catholic Athletic League.

As a player for Bellarmine College Prep, Mike Machado saw firsthand how tough the league could be and recognized the fact that if he were ever to have his own program, he would want it to be molded within the fires of the WCAL.

By 2002, Mike Machado finally got his wish just in time for his team to fully move into their Skyway campus up on a hill that overlooks all of the Silicon Valley. It was a magical year for Machado's young program as the Warriors stunned the league by going undefeated for their first nine games before losing to Serra in the regular season finale. Unfazed and reenergized, the Warriors regrouped and won their next three games to win their first CCS championship over Bellarmine. Little did anyone know just how much of a rivalry the two would become in a short while.

Valley Christian came up just short of the league title in 2003, but still went 8-2 and entered the CCS Division IV playoffs as heavy favorites. Coach Machado was NOT happy. His team had some so close to making it to Division I, yet were forced to play in a weaker division. He let the CCS higher ups know about his displeasure and went about dominating and eviscerating the competition, ultimately beating Pacific Grove in the title game 69-0. After humiliating each of his playoff opponents, the CCS officials had seen enough and proposed adding an Open Division in 2004.

That year was one of Machado's best and once again his team flirted with an undefeated season. Alas, it was not to be as they lost a heartbreaker to Saint Francis in the regular season finale. Still, his team was loaded with talent and hunger to avenge their lone loss. Two weeks later, they crushed the Lancers 21-0 and a week later, they beat Los Gatos 35-14 for the first Open Division championship. They repeated the feat the following year in the division that Machado forced into existence.

While winning four titles in a row is impressive, what lay beneath was a heart of gold. For years, the team had been led out of the tunnel by a manager named Andrew Watson. We were always inspired by Andrew's unadulterated passion for the program and love for each and every one of the players. Coach Machado knew that Andrew loved the game but there was no program available for those with Downs Syndrome. So Coach created Camp for the Stars in 2007 and it has blossomed into his enduring legacy, setting him apart from the championships won and great players coached while giving a group of people often overlooked in society a chance to participate and enjoy a sport that they love. It's a unique spin on Coach's ever present philosophy that even the last man on the bench has value.

Coach Machado was a master at recognizing the individual talents of each and every one of his players, including me. I was never much of a player and was often the last on the bench, a soft, pudgy sort who never met a cruller he didn't love. But despite my lack of talent and appearance, coach Machado admired my hustle and perseverance. I didn't need to be the next Jeff Schweiger, Cameron Marshall, Byron Marshall or Collin Johnson, I just needed to be myself and that twas enough to be on his team. Coach Machado even joined my teammates and endearingly called me by my nickname, "Heggy". It was due to little moments such as these that taught my teammates that EVERYONE had a place on the team. Because of this mindset, we became a brotherhood.

From the bench as a junior and senior, I watched up close as coach Machado molded two very different teams into contenders. Nowadays, the Valley Christian-Bellarmine College Prep football rivalry is practically a myth, but back when I was in high school, very few rivalries in the Bay Area could compare. This was especially true my junior year as the two teams were loaded with talent and hungry for all sorts of championships. While the two schools enjoyed a terrific rivalry for years to come, it can be argued that 2008 was the apex of that rivalry.

Coach Machado couldn't have wanted it any other way. After all, the Open Division was made because of him and he lived for the opportunity to beat the best in the area. While coach Machado often gave us pep talks, he never tried to rile hatred in our hearts. It's still a game and life moves on after football. Still, he knew that we wanted to beat the Bells and go on to win all the championships that our hands could hold. We lost both games to Bellarmine in 2008, including the CCS Open Division Championship. After being humbled 21-0, he gathered us around and began a speech that rang hollow in our ears then but rings true today. After a full season of singing our praises, saying how good we could be if we worked hard enough, he casually mentioned that stuff like this happens, that life moves on.

In the moment, all I could think was that we had way fewer chances to win a championship that he. While true, my thought missed the point coach Machado was trying to make. Life moves on after football. While you may not win every title that comes your way, if you put your best foot forward and gave it all you got, tthe lessons learned on the field of friendly strife will last longer than any hardware that may clasp around your finger or wrap around your neck. While we likely would have won it all at a smaller level, coach Machado knew that it wouldn't mean nearly as much as if we beat the biggest schools in the Open Division. In life, you can't just go around the tough stuff. You have to go through it.

Late in my senior year, I listened as he took a page out of Knute Rockne's book and spent the entire week before our first round game against Mitty telling us that NO ONE thought we could win, that "they" were sure that we could get trampled, lighting a fire within our bellies that we then used to defeat the Monarchs in one of his biggest upsets. Of course, he tried to tamp down on our enthusiasm as soon as the final horn blew, knowing that we had a pretty tough matchup to get ready for the next week, but it was no use. It's hard to stifle a roaring inferno of overly enthused teenage boys who only have the perspective of the present, not the future.

After I graduated in 2010, I stuck around the Bay Area for the next two years, always keeping tabs on Valley Christian and occasionally attending games, making an early habit to find coach Machado in the crowd afterwards to say a quick hello and give brief updates on our lives. Although I was the last player on the bench, he never forgot me.

When my dad died in 2011, a lot of my former teammates reached out to me. It was a surreal look into the extended branch of the Valley Christian football community that coach Machado spent 29 years cultivating. Once you were in, it was for life.

Over the next few years, I lived across thee state going to college but still kept tabs on my old high school football team, always rooting for them to do well and trying to attend at least one game a year. During each return, I'd gaze at my surroundings, noticing the familiar and unfamiliar and always making a point to shake coach Machado's hand after the game.

I watched from afar as Valley won CCS (Division III) in 2012 and was in attendance as they won coach Machado's seventh and eighth titles, always keeping note of the changing facilities as they got smaller and smaller. In 2016, I awaited anxiously for any updates as the Warriors battled it out in coach Machado's only state championship appearance. Alas, the Warriors came up short, losing 21-17 to Madison.

As the years went on, I began to notice that Valley had begun to switch offenses, using more spread concepts. Coach was never an innovator, but he was always looking out for us and if his offense needed to be tweaked for the good of the program, then he was willing to negotiate. As he stated when we switched to the shotgun formation my senior year "We're still running the same crap that we've always run, it just looks a bit different". Indeed, his best teams thrived on the run game.

My last interaction with coach Machado was Homecoming 2025 and, as always, much of Valley that I had once remembered had changed. The home bleachers no have a roof, a video board in the end zone replaced the simple scoreboard that had shown so many positive scores back in my day as we chased glory and a large weight room now stands at the end of what was once an empty end zone.

But change is ever present and as me and Coach shook hands, he mentioned that he enjoyed reading the stuff that I occasionally post on LinkedIn. After all these years, we still keep tabs on each other. Coach Machado never forgot me and I'll never forget him. On November 17, 2025, he told Warriors community that he was stepping down as head coach. With 252 wins, eight CCS titles and seven WCAL championships, all that was missing on his resumé was a state championship. But as coach said back on that dreary night in 2008, life goes on after the game is over.