Kennedy heads to the coast in search of Mario Millan's 100th win

Mario Millan addressing his team after facing Buchanan

The Kennedy Thunderbirds are headed to Santa Maria, CA this Friday to take on the Pioneer Valley Panthers. 

Coming off of a dominant 41-13 win over Highland, the Thunderbirds are looking to keep the momentum rolling for their Week 5 matchup against an undefeated Independence squad. 

However, the win is much more than a quick trip to the coast, as it serves as a chance to earn Mario Millan his 100th win as a head football coach.

Millan, who’s already cemented himself as arguably the most successful coach in Delano history, has the chance to hit yet another milestone to his 30-year-long coaching career. 

The current Kennedy coach is a Delano High School alumni, where he also got his first head coaching opportunity alongside Steve Brown in 2008. 

Together, the pair led the Tigers for several years, accumulating some of the most successful seasons in DT history. When his stint at Delano concluded in 2013, his overall record stood at 39-30 overall.

Millan then became a defensive coordinator at Robert F. Kennedy High School, serving on back-to-back valley championship teams. 

Alongside then head coach Dennis Moody, the Kennedy coaching staff transformed a program that had won four games in its first four seasons and laid the foundation for the powerhouse Delano football fans have come to expect. 

Despite winning championships in his first two seasons as an assistant coach, Millan’s first season as the head coach in 2018 can only be described as nothing short of special. 

The 2018 Thunderbirds remain the only team in school history to accumulate 13 wins, and their valley title against a Shafter team that had beat them earlier in the season sparked a rivalry that ranks amongst the best in the central section. 

In his seven years as Kennedy’s head coach, he’s racked up 60 wins with an insane winning percentage of 75%. And as far as all-time win totals, Millan currently ranks third in the history of head coaches in Delano. 

The iconic Ray Frederick (for whom the Delano baseball diamond is named after) stands at the top with 116 wins during his 22-year career. He is followed by Gene Beck (for whom the Delano High School bowl is named after) who racked up 109 wins over 20 total seasons. 

Millan’s 99 total wins have come in just 13 seasons as a head football coach, and will most likely (if he chooses to coach multiple more seasons) eclipse Frederick’s record in the years to come. 

While Friday night’s matchup against a 1-2 Panthers squad is anything but a “sure win”, the Thunderbirds can be expected to enter the game with the added motivation of contributing to their beloved coaches legendary status.