RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) – With the 2022 football season kicking off this Friday, Cordova High School recently found its new varsity football coach.

On July 29, it was announced by the Folsom-Cordova Unified School District that Kyle Williams has been named the interim head football coach at Cordova H.S. The move comes relatively late in the offseason following the departure of the Lancers’ last coach for another school in the Sacramento region.

“It was a dream come true,” Williams told the Grapevine Independent in a recent phone interview. “This is what I always wanted to do for years, and it finally happened (and) came to fruition.”

Since 2017, Cordova has had a revolving door of head coaches. With Williams, even in an interim role, the hope is for the program to create some stability starting at the top.

“I’m trying to restore Cordova’s tradition and dominance,” Williams proclaimed.

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Williams is a Cordova alumnus and played on varsity under former coach Max Miller for two seasons from 2004-05. The new Lancers coach played defensive tackle and was selected to the annual Optimist All-Star game as a senior.

During his junior year in 2004, Cordova nearly ran the table, going 12-0 until losing to Oak Ridge in the Division II CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship game.

“We had great leadership. We were really a family,” Williams recalled. “We had guys that were willing to lead, and we had a lot of guys that bought into the system. We were hungry. We had great leaders, a great coaching staff and people that allowed the leaders to lead.”

The Lancers were 3-7 overall last season and 2-3 in Greater Sacramento League action. Excluding the shortened 2020 season when Cordova went 3-2, the Lancers have not had a winning season since 2017, the final year under coach Darren Nill.

“We’re going to work hard this season,” Williams said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes in the classroom and on the football field to get the job done. We really got a great group of guys out there that’s willing to learn and ready to buy in to the system.”

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Cordova opens the season Friday at home against Bella Vista with kick off scheduled for 7:15 p.m. The Lancers’ toughest test of the season will come in week four on Sept. 9 when they host regional rivals, the Rosemont Wolverines, who are ranked No. 23 in the Sacramento Bee’s preseason Top 25.