The Contra Costa Comets football team has a new head coach, Marcus Davis, a CCC alum who took over the coaching role in March of this year. Davis is a former player – for the Comets and other teams – and has been a coach for 11 years. “Being a former CCC student and wanting to return to my community” were key motivating factors, Davis told The Advocate. Before coming to coach at CCC, Davis spent five years coaching PVHS football from 2012 to 2017. Afterward, he coached for two years at the University of Minnesota, Duluth but returned to Pinole Valley in 2020 as a football coach.

In 2023 Davis coached football at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan. With 11 years of coaching under his belt, Davis then came to Contra Costa College. “There were several factors that stood out about Mr. Davis when choosing him as our next Head Coach. One major factor was Mr. Davis’ previous experience, both at the local high school level and lower-level college coaching experience.”, said Athletic Director at CCC, Kyle Alvarado.

Davis said that he played football with his friends as a child. One source of inspiration for Davis was his older brother, who played football, he said. This sibling rivalry led Davis to participate in the sport and motivated him to want to become a better player than his brother.

He played for the West County Spartans, a youth football and cheerleading program. Davis also attended Pinole Valley High for four years, playing football for the Pinole Spartans. He enrolled at CCC in 2001, where he played baseball for two years.

In 2003, Davis transferred to Dickinson State in North Dakota, where he played football and baseball. At Dickinson, he was titled All-Conference 1st Team and Honorable Mention All-American. All-American, All-Conference, and All-Region are honors given to the best college football players in the United States, who best represent their teams and the sport.

After his tenure with Dickinson, Davis attended the University of Minnesota, Duluth for one year. He played football for the Duluth Bulldogs and was titled All-Conference, All-Region, and All-American. For any player, receiving these accolades is a great honor. Davis said it was his coaches and friends that inspired him enough to help him achieve greatness. He recalled one of his former coaches, Jeff Wright, who Davis said, “allowed me to draw plays as a freshman playing JV football.”

Davis also mentioned the late coach, Steve Alameda, who took the time to listen to his players and was able to build a strong relationship with his team. Another source of inspiration for Davis was his friend Marcus Maxwell, who played football at Diablo Valley College. Maxwell was eventually drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2005.

As many know, the 2025 football season has been postponed due to a lack of enrollment in the football program, and the team not meeting the minimum requirement of players. The plan for this year is to revitalize the program in hopes of recruitment. Many hope that the Comets will return stronger for the 2025 season and see outstanding numbers in recruitment. For more information, check out The Advocate’s website to find an article on the postponement of this year’s football season.