With the Diamond Bar High School football team winless in both the preseason and the regular season,  head coach Kevin Argumosa is preparing for the off-season, in which he can focus on getting the Brahmas in shape for the next season.

“Patience, a lot of patience,” Argumosa said. “In my 18 years of coaching, I’ve been going to programs understanding kids had knowledge of football, but while coming here, I felt the kids had not fully understand the game and what was going on.”

In their final game of the year, DB lost to Claremont, 45-32.

Entering DBHS, the coach focused on instilling the fundamentals of football and the team concept of  “believing in each other.”

“It’s very hard coming in as a new staff and to a new program when something is new [for the players] to just buy into it, yet the boys bought into it much quicker than expected,” Argumosa said.

Also, the coach has started to emphasize the importance of  discipline, creating a list of the players who would be playing games. The list is based on the player’s attendance in practice and class, and it dictates who will sit out for a quarter or the entire game. Instead of scolding players, the coach disciplines the players by enforcing extra conditioning, such as bear crawls or laps around the track.

“Both on the field and off the field, we don’t get in trouble as much as we used to in the past,” junior running back Jeremiah Chukwudobe said. “The team as a whole is getting better, and we just need to focus on fundamentals and focusing.”

Entering the season, there were few returning starters as the team lacked varsity experience.

“The younger guys have a lot of playing experience, so it’s really exciting that we are going in next year with guys with varsity football experience,” Argumosa said.

The young Brahmas struggled at times during the season, losing three of their league games by over 20—Glendora 45-13, Ayala 47-25 and South Hills 56-6. However, the team showed flashes of potential for next season as they lost multiple matches on last minute touchdowns, such as the boys’ season opener against Bonita, 42-39.

“There were many games where we should have won,” Chukwudobe said.“We have all the assets, all the players. We just need to finish up the season.”

To build the players’ strength and stamina, Argumosa plans for the team to condition in the weight room two hours a day every week, once off-season rolls in.

“As long as the boys take the off-season program seriously and do what they are supposed to do, I could see us improving a lot more from where we are now.” Argumosa said. “The off-season is really going to dictate what is going to happen in-season.”