Cesar Rivas-Sandoval takes over as defensive coordinator for the Azusa Pacific football team. Courtesy: APU Sports Information
Azusa Pacific kicked off spring football with a new defensive coordinator: Cesar Rivas-Sandoval.
Rivas-Sandoval, a 14-year career football coach, filled the position upon former defensive coordinator Brian Willmer’s resignation and acceptance of a new position as the head coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University.
Willmer is the sixth head coach in MidAmerica program history. The NAIA program is located in Olathe, Kan., and is a member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, posting an overall 128-34 record since 2000.
Willmer served the last eight of his 15 years with the Azusa Pacific coaching staff as the defensive coordinator, helping lead the Cougars to a Great Northwest Athletic Conference title in 2013, the first conference title in program history in its second season of Division II competition. Prior to APU’s transition into NCAA play in 2012, the Cougars made seven NAIA playoff appearances with Willmer on staff.
“The process of finding a replacement started off with, ‘What was the void that Brian was leaving?’ You had not just a coach, but you had an administrator – a high-capacity guy who could handle multiple tension points in his day,” head coach Victor Santa Cruz said. “Brian was able to run the team when I had a high-level meeting that had to keep me, and so I needed somebody like that.”
Santa Cruz expressed an interest in looking for an individual who had a spiritual component in addition to possessing administrative capabilities.
“[We were looking for] somebody who is committed to Christ, whose faith is the impetus of why they do this – of why they even coach football,” Santa Cruz said. “That’s how we came about coach Rivas.”
Rivas-Sandoval began his duties as the new defensive coordinator with the start of spring football March 3.
Rivas-Sandoval served the last year as special teams coordinator and position coach for linebackers at the University of Sioux Falls, an NCAA Division II program. The new Cougar coach also served at the helm of Fort Lewis College’s football program for three years. In addition to his experience with defense, Rivas-Sandoval has served as an offensive coordinator and position coach for quarterbacks, defensive backs, defensive line and kick returners at levels ranging from high school to NCAA Division I.
“It’s given me a lot of perspective on what to value in a football program and also hopefully how I can help and be a team player within the program here at APU with the development going into Division II,” Rivas-Sandoval said. “Having that perspective of being on offense and defense and having been a coordinator and a head coach, hopefully I can bring some values to the program here with being a utility coach.”
Rivas-Sandoval recognizes ambition in the Azusa Pacific football program in attaining a national championship.
“I love that they’ve set the bar and the standard so high immediately going into NCAA Division II football,” Rivas-Sandoval said. “Coach Santa Cruz has done an unbelievable job with the staff and recruiting players that can get us to that point.”
Rivas-Sandoval says Santa Cruz and other administrative personnel such as the provost and department chair influenced his decision to accept the new position.
“Everybody here was awesome — absolutely awesome,” Rivas-Sandoval said. “The people here were really the biggest factor in choosing APU.”
The new defensive coordinator says his experience with spring practice has been “great so far.”
“It was replacing a high-capacity guy with another high-capacity guy, which we did,” Santa Cruz said. “Coach Rivas is going to fit in great. I think the thing I love the most is his heart for these players. He’s trying memorize everyone’s name and he’s excited just to be with them, and he’s laughing with the staff already.”