Two Modesto high schools will have new football coaches next season. What the future holds
A pair of Modesto high schools will make changes and have new leaders as the Stanislaus District coaching carousel continues.
Enochs’ Tracey Traub and Modesto’s Dylan Miller will not return for 2025 after each stepped down. Traub finished his fourth season as the Eagles’ head coach after holding different coaching positions for the Eagles, and Miller spent six years as the Panthers’ head coach, coaching five full seasons and a COVID-shortened five-game spring season.
Miller is A Valley Kid
Miller is a Valley kid through and through. He is former Panthers linebacker and a 2006 Modesto High graduate and a former Modesto Junior College football player. After a two-year playing career at MJC, he was a two-year starter at Menlo College. After his playing career, Miller coached linebackers at MJC for Sam Young (his coach as a Pirate) and Rusty Stivers and was an assistant at Central Catholic.
When the coaching job at his alma mater opened in 2019, he jumped at the opportunity.
In his time with the Panthers, Miller helped the program take on a new identity. On the field, the Panthers did not have an all-league player when he first took over the program. The 2024 All-Central California Athletic League teams included four first-team members, four second-team members and one honorable mention. Leading the charge this past season was one of the program’s best ever running backs, Lucky Dam. The Panthers went 9-40 over five full seasons. Off the field, Miller, a physical education and AVID teacher at Modesto High, stressed academics. The team grade-point average across all three levels was above 3.0.
“Being an alum of the school, it really was an honor to be the head coach for any amount of time, let alone the past six years,” Miller said. “We were able to garner respect for the process and getting better every day that allowed us to instill the structure of a true football program.”
Miller is moving out of the area, but for the rest of this school year, he is still helping with the football program, teaching seventh-period athletics and keeping the track athletes ready for competitions.
“I’m just incredibly proud of the players and coaches that believed in what we were doing. I really feel like that group worked at an uncommon level,” Miller said. “I think that’s why we’re starting to see that momentum at Modesto High School.”
Traub hopes to still coach
Traub took over the program in 2021 coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking over for James Stacy, who is still the school’s athletics director.
Prior to taking over as the varsity head coach, Traub was the JV coach for three seasons and spent one year as the team’s offensive coordinator. In his first season, he led the Eagles to the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons. The most recent two years, the team battled injuries to some of its best players. In four seasons, the Eagles finished 14-26.
Traub stepped down in January after taking the time to make sure of the offseason tasks: checking in equipment from last season, ordering new equipment and sending equipment for recertification, making life easier for the new regime.
“I tried to end well,” he said. “
There were two key factors that led Traub to his decision, he said. On the personal side, responsibilities beyond school and the job of being a head football coach were beginning to weigh heavy. He serves as a lead pastor at Grace River Church.
The second factor came from a meeting Traub had with the school principal, athletic director and coaches from other programs after the 2023 football season. It was brought up during the meeting that having coaches who also were on campus was key to keeping the Eagles competitive. Traub agreed.
His original plan was to step down after last season, but his presumed replacement, a teacher with coaching experience, later decided he did not want the job, so Traub returned in 2024.
Traub said he will not be on staff at Enochs in the foreseeable future but would like to be an assistant coach or an offensive coordinator at a high school. He is not opposed to returning to Enochs in that capacity as well.
“I’m in a transition place,” Traub said. “I don’t know where that leaves me. I still love football at the high school level. I want to continue at some point, so I’m kind of evaluating where that leaves me.”
Staying in the program for replacements
Miller said the Panthers are “keeping the band together” with the new hire. Modesto High already has named Moises Tabarez, an assistant under Miller, its new head coach.
“Not only is he a Panther himself, but he’s got the respect and admiration of the players and the coaches,” Miller said. “We’re keeping the lion’s share of the coaching staff intact and that’s a huge piece of why I feel like we’re going to maintain that positive momentum.”
Tabarez has already become the voice of the Panthers’ new regime.
“We wanted to make sure that the students had a chance to adjust to the new normal,” Miller said. “It’s been a really encouraging process.”
At Enochs, Joshua Bradshaw will take over the varsity program after serving as the junior varsity head coach for the past few seasons. In 2024, the Enochs junior varsity team went 6-4 overall and 4-1 in the CCAL. While he has been with the program and has familiarity with the players, he is currently not a staff member, according to the school’s online staff directory.
When the 2025 high school football season kicks off with official practices, there will be three CCAL programs with new head coaches. In addition to Modesto and Enoch high schools, Pitman made a coaching change this offseason.
The Pride promoted Braden Plaa, son of Downey High head coach Jeremy Plaa, to take over their varsity program in mid-March.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 7:51 AM.
