Charlie Wedemeyer
There are two things that drive the sports industry: championships and inspirational stories. While some seasons end in glory and others simply bring inspiring stories that drive future generations to further success, very few embody the lasting legacy of Charlie Wedemeyer. While he coached Los Gatos High School's football team to numerous successful seasons, it was his final one that left an indelible mark on his legacy. This is his story.
The Early Years
Charlie Wedemeyer was born on February 19, 1946 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Since the day he was born, he displayed a natural athletic ability coated in a cool charisma that honored his tropical home. He excelled in baseball, basketball and football while at Punahou High School and was named Hawaii's Prep Athlete of the Decade.
After graduating in 1965, Wedemeyer accepted a football scholarship from Michigan State's legendary coach, Duffy Daugherty. Over the course of the net four years, Charlie Wedemeyer threw his slight body into being the best quarterback/flanker/ defensive back possible. Along the way, he won the 1966 national championship and was invited to both the Hula Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game after his eligibility ran out following the 1968 season.
While the Hula Bowl provided him a unique opportunity to return home, he found his future home in the Shrine Game. As his West teammates beat the East 18-7, young Charlie Wedemeyer took in his surroundings. While the weather in San Francisco was much cooler than Hawaii, Wedemeyer had been through worse in Michigan. It was there at Kezar Stadium that Charlie Wedemeyer found his true calling.
After graduating in the spring of 1969, Charlie Wedemeyer moved to California and began his coaching career at Los Gatos High School in the fall of 1970.
The Wildcats
The Los Gatos football program had been the pride and joy of the small town for decades and had just won the league title the year before Charlie Wedemeyer arrived from the midwest. For the next seven years, Wedemeyer watched as Bob Skuse led the Wildcats to victory after victory, culminating in an undefeated campaign in 1975. But by 196 the program had begun to slip out of the longtime coach's grasp and Skuse stepped down after a disappointing 4-6 performance.
In stepped his 31-year old protigè, Charlie Wedemeyer. His enthusiasm was hardly diminished after losing his first game 31-14 to powerhouse Saratoga and Wedemeyer remained calm as his team lost the next week to Leland 13-12. He just knew that his Wildcats were on the right track. They just needed to learn how to win.
Feeding off their coach's energy, Los Gatos won their next eight games to win the league title. It was the last "normal" season of Charlie Wedemeyer's life.
A New Normal
The diagnosis came in February 1978: ALS. Charlie and Lucy Wedemeyer couldn't believe their ears. For much of his first season as the Wildcats' head coach, Charlie Wedemeyer noticed a strange trend. The lifelong natural athlete was starting to trip over things that he normally wouldn't trip over and drop things from his usually reliable hands. Something wasn't right.
Stil, they never imagined that he'd be facing his own mortality at just 32 years. Told that he only had a few years to live, Charlie Wedemeyer went back to his comfort zone: the football field.
The Wildcats started off strong that year, beating Saratoga 24-10 and Del Mar 24-6. After losing to Leland 21-18 in Week 3, the Wildcats roared through five straight victories, beating the likes of Westmont (13-10), Leigh 34-13, Blackford (34-13), Branham (35-0) and Camden (28-8) before bowing to Prospect 15-13.
With a 22-9 victory over Campbell in the season finale in hand, the Wildcats stamped their ticket to the CCS playoffs and a date with the mighty Oak Grove Eagles. With future NFL coaches Marty Morniweg under center and Mike Holmgren serving as an assistant, the Eagles were a force to be reckoned with. Still, the Wildcats led by ten when the eventual CCS champiions rallied to crush the Wildcats 34-29.
Feeling well enough and with that loss now behind him, Charlie Wedemeyer decided to keep on coaching. While ALS was always a factor, Wedemeyer didn't let him hinder him as the Wildcats won the league championship in 1980, 1982 and 1983. Each year ended in postseason heartbreak as Wedemeyer's health continued to decline. By 1984, he had lost the ability to walk and speak, relying on a golf cart to roam around the field and Lucy to read his lips and relay his commands to the team.
The Wildcats were undefeated in 1984 as they traveled to Independence High School for a a semifinal clash with the Saint Francis Lancers. It was a battle from the opening whistle, with neither team willing to concede as the game dragged on into overtime with the score deadlocked 14-14. In those days, high school football in the Golden State was ruled under the so called "California Tiebreaker". It was a basically a tug-of-war as both teams were allowed eight plays each beginning at the 50-yard line. While a touchdown would automatically end the game, the really unique part occured if neither team scored. Each team would play once before switching to the other team and wherever the ball was spotted before was where it would remain for the next snap, no matter the team. If no one scored, then whoever had possession of the ball on the opposing side would win the game.
Los Gatos lost in overtime as Saint Francis ended the game with the ball on the Los Gatos side of the field and would go on to win their third straight CCS title under legendary coach Ron Calcagno.
One Glorious Season
Charlie and Lucy Wedemeyer knew that 1985 was going to be his last year at the helm. Now totally reliant on a golf cart to move him across the sidelines and Lucy to read his lips, the Wedemeyers knew that they had one last shot at winning Los Gatos High School's first Central Coast Section (CCS) championship.
After a rough 10-3 loss to Seaside in the opening week, the Wildcats went on a tear. They beat Saratoga 19-7, Milpitas 32-6, Del Mar 29-11, Blakcford 48-0, Leigh 37-20, Westmont 36-0, Prospect 28-3 and Branham 27-14 to close out the regular season with yet another league title..
The Wildcats dominated the always potent Bellarmine Bells 19-0 in the first round of the playoffs and withstood Los Altos (27-15) and Gilroy's (14-0) best efforts to set up a climactic rematch with the most dominate program in the land: the Saint Francis Lancers.
The undefeated Lancers had won the past three CCS championships and were eager to win their fourth straight as they entered San Jose State's Spartan Stadium. After Saint Francis took an early 6-0 lead, Los Gatos running back Jeff Borgese put the team on his back by scoring twice on short runs before the half and blocking a last second field goal attempt that clinched the 14-12 victory, giving the Los Gatos High School football program its first CCS championship and perfectly sending off its most inspirational coach.
After the game, the entire Saint Francis team visited Charlie Wedemeyer as he prepared to drive off. Although they had lost, Lancers coach Ron Calcagno wanted his players to recognize the true rarity of the moment.
Legacy
Winning CCS, Charlie Wedemeyer stepped down as the Wildcats' head coach, handing over the reigns to longtime assistant Butch Cattolico who would bring the program to unprecedented heights. Meanwhile, Wedemeyer stayed in the background, helping out the freshman squad when he was able and continued to defy the odds stacked against him. Year after year went by and yet the man who was given only a couple of years to live was around to witness many of his successor's 12 CCS championships.
Back in 1984, the Silicon Valley Athletic Association decided to name its annual All-Star football game in his honor. That legacy lives on today as numerous athletes have received scholarships due to their performance in that game and proceeds from the contest continue to benefit the ALS community.
After Charlie Wedemeyer passed away on June 3, 2010, thousands packed HP Pavilion to pay respects to one of the most inspirational figures in the history of the Bay Area. His legacy lives on in the program that he revitalized and the All-Star game that still bears his name.
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