Hilmar names head football coach to replace legendary Frank Marques
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Hilmar promotes Mark Santos to head coach after 20 years within program.
- Santos keeps Marques' schemes, adds spread runs and simpler defensive fronts.
- Continuity with JV players and Santos' internal promotion preserves Hilmar culture.
For years, Mark Santos kept a running Google doc that he constantly updated.
Whenever he saw a coaching method, formation or play sequence he liked, didn’t like or needed to research further, he added it and went back to it later. It was part of the preparation for what he hoped was a head coaching job, even though he never knew when the opportunity would come.
Santos can use it now.
After 20 years in the Hilmar High football program, coaching at various levels, Santos on Wednesday was named the school’s new head varsity football coach.
Santos takes over for legendary coach Frank Marques who decided to retire earlier this year after a 23-year career, Sac-Joaquin Section and state titles and 199 total wins.
In the final season under Marques, the Yellowjackets advanced to the D-V section semifinals.
Marques, a Hilmar High graduate and larger-than-life figure in the local football community, said in October that his trust was in whoever school administration picked as his successor.
Santos said he was informed he was the new lead man Wednesday morning, and he planned his first meeting with the team as head coach for Thursday.
“He laid the groundwork for Hilmar football over the past 20 years,” Santos said of Marques, “and I am just going to try to continue that success.”
Santos didn’t always know he wanted to be a head coach. He just knew he wanted to be a coach at Hilmar. About 10 years ago, head coaching seemed appealing, and he started putting together the list of ideas.
“It felt kind of unreal at first, I’m a Hilmar guy,” he said on Wednesday of how it felt when he first got the job. “I went to kindergarten through high school. My parents graduated from Hilmar, my kids go to Hilmar, we live in Hilmar. So, it’s where I want to be. I want to take the same path as Marques. If I could coach 20 years and go out on my own terms, that would be the goal.”
New coach born and raised in Hilmar
Santos, like Marques, was born and raised in Hilmar, graduated from the school and joined the coaching staff shortly after his high school graduation.
Santos graduated in 2005 and by 2006 he was on the sidelines. Since then, he has worked his way through the ranks.
He was the freshman team offensive coordinator, then freshman head coach. After a few seasons in that role, he called plays for the junior varsity before becoming the varsity defensive coordinator in 2015. In 2019, he moved to offensive coordinator, a position he held for two years. The past few seasons, he was the JV head coach. He teaches history and his wife is an English teacher.
Santos has just about seen it all after 20 years as a lower-level head coach and varsity assistant, but he expected there would be a different feeling when he addressed the team Thursday morning.
“It’s going to be a mixture of nerves and excitement,” Santos said.
A new voice with a similar message
One of the many things Santos admired about Marques was his ability to adapt offensive and defensive philosophies to the personnel on the roster.
Santos recalled a time when Marques adopted the spread offense at Hilmar before many high schools made the switch. Star quarterback Nathan Costa went on to throw for a combined 4,501 yards and 38 touchdowns in 2004 and 2005.
“You can’t just do the same thing every year,” Santos said. “You have to adapt to the kids you have and to the opponents. … You’ve got to give our kids the best chance by putting them in the best situation.”
Santos said having spent the past few seasons coaching the junior varsity team helps his familiarity with the players that will be moving up to the varsity level.
“I feel like I’m not really a new head coach because I’ve coached these guys,” he said. “I know what works for them and how we can adapt. Since I’ve been at JV for the past couple of years, I’m probably going to know 99% of the guys on varsity.”
Santos will put his spin on things, but he says most schemes and terminology will be the same.
He knows there are big shoes to fill, but — in typical head coach fashion — he says he will take it one day at a time.
“I’m not going to go in there talking about winning a state title or a section title (early),” Santos said. “It’s easy to look forward to playing Hughson or Escalon or Ripon, but our goal right now is to be ready by Week 1.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 1:41 PM.
