Good Sports: Valley high school football coach in special NFL internship

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Garza High's head football coach, Yosef Fares, has found himself among NFL ranks, working with the Atlanta Falcons at this year's training camp as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.

"You know, I'm up at 4, in the locker room changing at 5," he said. "I head up to the office at about 5:30. I start going through the installs and really try to learn what we're doing."

It's all thanks to a friendly Bullard High School connection with Atlanta's special teams coordinator, Marquice Williams.

"I had reached out to him, was asking him to speak to our team at Garza and after we had talked about that, he then said, 'Hey, look. I'm going to put your name up for this internship.'"

It's an internship that's developed greats like Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl-winning head coach, Mike Tomlin.

"What's really cool about this internship is I get a meeting with the president, Mr. McKay, of the Falcons organization and it's basically to talk about my future and what I want to get out of this thing," Fares said.

Working alongside defensive coaches and players, Fares soaks in as much as he can.

He's hopeful he can bring that same insight and professionalism to his players back home.

"The guys at the elite level are so, so smart," Fares said. "They're so into their playbook, there's no complaining. Every single rep, they are competing for a job that pays a lot of money."

He'll get to take that knowledge to the big stage as he preps for next week's first preseason game against the Lions in Detroit.

"I've watched a lot of football," Fares said. "I've watched a lot of NFL, been to a lot of games, but never from the sidelines, never with a role. I don't know what the role will be, it could be just holding the ball. I don't know what it is, but I'll be there."

As Justin Garza High School gears up for its first-ever regular season in the Valley, its head coach gears up to work in his first NFL game in what could be the start of something special.

"I've always wanted to see how far the game would take me," Fares said. "That's in God's hands, but I would love to coach in the league someday."