One win from the record

But the Dons play Carlmont Friday night and Sell will be there, just as he has since the 2000 season, knowing that his players still need to execute better than the Scots if he is to be rewarded with the record-breaking win.

“It hasn’t happened yet,” Sell said.

While it’s great to be recognized as the winningest coach in a program’s history, Sell is more honored that he is just a link in what has become a triumvirate of football coaches at Aragon. Since 1971, Sell is only the third football coach. He credits first, Dick Breaux, and then Williams, as laying the foundation that has enabled him to succeed both of them.

Standing on the shoulders of giants, if you will.

“Aragon was a horrible football school prior to 1971,” Sell said, of the school that opened in 1962. 1971 was the year that Breaux took over the football program. He brought on Williams, who was coaching and teaching at Burlingame at the time, and between the two of them ran the program for the next 30 years — from 1971 to 1978, it was Breaux, who then handed the program off to Williams, who guided it from 1979 to 1999. Sell took over the program prior to the 2000 season.

Williams, who went 165-65-5 during his 21-year head coaching career, passed away in 2021 at the age of 80.

“When I took this thing over, I didn’t want to screw it up,” Sell said. “I held them (Breaux and Williams) in such high esteem, the gravity of taking over this thing, I didn’t want to screw it up. they kind of set the foundation (for Aragon football).”

Sell started going to Aragon games in the late 1970s when his brother, Jim, was playing for Williams. Sell then played under Williams and, after graduating St. Mary’s College in 1988, joined Williams’ coaching staff in 1989.

The fact that he played on and coached teams that helped build Williams’ winning record is not lost on Sell.

“These are collaborative wins. I don’t feel like I’m competing against 156 because I was part of most of Britt’s 156 (wins),” Sell said. “Just like (current assistant coach and 1999 Aragon graduate) Ashley Parham had a ton to do with my wins. He played for and was coached by Britt. That’s part of it.”

Sell notched win No. 100 Sept. 7, 2013, with a 50-0 victory over Jefferson. Since then, Sell is 56-53 overall and 21-28 in Peninsula Athletic League play. His overall record is 156-100-1 and, in 2021, he captured his first Central Coast Section championship as head coach.

Unlike other sports like basketball and baseball, where a team plays about 24 regular-season games, high school football gets a minimum of 10, and they’re only played once a week. Other sports can play as often as three or four days a week. A coach has to stick around a long time to amass those kinds of win numbers in football.

“You play only one game a week. You’d better enjoy Monday through Thursday,” Sell said. “From 1971 to until now, what’s that, 52 years? There have been three head coaches who all know each other and share a very similar philosophy about how to treat kids and coach football.

“As I approach (the school win record), I would say what I’m most proud of is the longevity between Dick, Britt and myself and that there hasn’t been a wholesale change of philosophy.”

***

As I started crunching the number of Sell’s win-loss record, my thoughts turned to Serra head football coach Patrick Walsh, who took over the Serra program in 2001, the year after Sell started as head coach Aragon.

I added up Walsh’s numbers and he is approaching the 200-win mark in his head coaching career. Already the winningest coach in school history, Walsh’s record stood at 184-78-1 coming into the season. With last week’s 38-7 win over Central Catholic-Modesto to move to 3-0 in 2023, Walsh is now at 187 wins, which means he’ll most likely hit No. 200 midway through next season.

During that time, Walsh’s teams have won seven CCCS titles (2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022), five Northern California crowns (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022) and the 2017 state championship.

Just as impressive is Walsh’s 105-47-1 record in West Catholic Athletic League play, having won nine WCAL championships. The Padres will open their league schedule next week at Kezar Stadium when they go on the road to face Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. To report scores or tips, email sports@smdailyjournal.com.