While he had plenty of success at Contra Costa, he did work off the field as well. At the urging of his wife Roezell, Contra Costa College Athletic Director John Wade, and Brent Brennan, a college coach he had befriended while he was recruiting Oakland, Zo went back to Cal State Hayward and got his degree. Obtaining his degree now opened up a whole new level of coaching opportunities that he was now eligible for.
As fate would have it, In 2016 his friend Brent Brennan was named the Head Coach at San Jose State and Zo was one of the first coaches he called to join his staff and his very first hire. Zo went on to express the importance of developing those relationships along the way because those are the people who are going to advocate for you and even give you an opportunity somewhere down the road.
I was impressed with the way that he was able to develop and leverage that relationship with coach Brennan, so I asked if networking was the reason that he started the West Coast Zoom? Zo told me that it actually came from a challenge that coach Brennan put on the staff to come back next year better than you were last year. So in seeking professional growth Zo joined a Running back coach zoom group. There were about 30, top position coaches in the country on a zoom talking ball. The first thing that he noticed was that all the coaches on the call were black. He noticed they all coached the same position and he wondered how they would be able to help each other advance without having HC’s and OC’s on the call as well? Zo said he decided that he wanted to do a different zoom and invite head coaches, coordinators and any coach who wanted to join so that they could really expand the conversation. Before long that group of 30 grew to over 600 coaches on the twice weekly West Coast Zoom calls. He told me how he had invited coach Locksley to join the zoom and that was where he first unveiled his vision for The Coalition and Zo knew that he wanted in! So Zo’s quest for professional growth and innovative use of the zoom platform during the pandemic lead to him winning the 2020 Zoomtopia award for diversity initiatives.
Ok, back to football, I know that your team had some unique challenges this season, but just how difficult was it I asked? Zo explained how the offseason was actually more difficult with players being back home and trying to manage the team via zoom while dealing with a pandemic as well as social and political unrest across the country. Then once the season started, due to COVID-19 regulations in their county, the team had to travel 6 hours to Humboldt County in order to be able to practice. After two weeks they were able to come back home and start playing their schedule. He told me how the team was rolling and sitting at 4-0 and on the way home from Boise State when they got the word that the COVID-19 regulations were back in place and that they would not be permitted to return and play in San Jose. So, then the long road trip began. They quickly had to move their home game with Hawaii to an away game in Hawaii and move out in the middle of the week. From Hawaii they flew directly to Las Vegas where they would stay for the next 3 weeks and prepare for and play their last 2 games. I asked how did you manage living out of a suitcase for so long? Zo quickly pointed out that being on a world tour prepares you for life in a suitcase.
Through all the adversity coach Zo and the San Jose State football team faced in 2020 they went 7-1 winning the Mountain West Championship (one loss in a bowl game) and Coach Zo was a nominee for the Broyles award, so it was a pretty good season.
I wrapped our conversation up by asking why he felt that it was important to not just be a member of The Coalition, but an Executive Committee member? In answering Zo reflected on his upbringing and the fact that he never knew his father until he was 23 years old. He did have that positive male role model to guide him. He told me how he had his first son when he was 17 and how he had to figure the ropes out on his own. He told me its important because he remembers Mike Locksley at New Mexico and the story that he shared on the West Coast Zoom oh how he had to start over and reinvent himself after being fired. So it’s important because he wants to be that guiding light and resource for another coach along their journey so that their road might not be so tough. He wants to share his network and resources to help elevate others and being a part of The Coalition is a great place to start.
