C.J. Anderson simply received an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The Jesse Bethel High School graduate, who turned to coaching after an NFL career that featured a Super Bowl victory with the Denver Broncos, is the new head coach at Monte Vista High School in Danville.
“This is a great start, a great job and a great opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” said Anderson, who had been set for another season as an assistant coach at Bethel. “I love the tradition at Monte Vista. They’ve had great players like Kyle Wright, Zack Ertz and more. I really like the level of competition and the level of play they are at. It’s an opportunity to go up against teams like De La Salle and San Ramon Valley. It’s a challenge and I wanted to take it.”
Bethel High football coach Jeff Turner, coach at Bethel since the school’s first season in 1998, stepped down at the end of the Jaguars’ one-game season in the spring. Anderson applied for the job, which ultimately went to his longtime friend, Daniel Martinez.
“I wanted to be the head coach at Bethel, but somewhere along the way I lost the dance,” Anderson said. “I’m not sure where I lost the dance but the district told me they wanted someone that was a teacher as well.
“Dan and me are real tight,” Anderson said. “I grew up down the street from him in the Crest and I was over at his house a lot. He was a senior at Bethel when I was a sophomore. So I told him I’d be the offensive coordinator for him. And I was going to hold to my word on that. But I also said if anyone came looking for me, and the right opportunity presented itself, I’d have to at least look at it.”
The opportunity came last week when the Monte Vista Athletic Director Andy Popper called Anderson.
“He called me one night at 10:15 p.m. and asked if I was interested in the head coaching job,” Anderson said. “I didn’t tell anyone about it in case I didn’t get the job. But I had an interview and I guess I knocked it out of the part. Still, the hardest part was telling Bethel that I was going to take the job.”
Turner said he believes Anderson will make a good coach anywhere.
“We’ve talked a lot about coaching, but he’s never asked me for advice. We just talk about it,” Turner said. “I was disappointed he left Bethel because I think with him we had the best coaching staff you could possibly put together, but that being said and C.J.’s ultimate goal, he made the right move.”
Anderson was an immediate standout for Turner, rushing for nearly 4,000 career yards and leading his team to four consecutive playoff appearances — including a spot in the Sac-Joaquin Section title game as a junior in 2007. That year he was also named the Times-Herald’s Male Athlete of the Year. He was also a solid quarterback that year, throwing for nearly 800 yards that season.
“When I look back on his playing days at Bethel, I just remember that he made a lot of big plays,” Turner said about Anderson in 2016. “Big plays you didn’t expect.”
Anderson continued to shine in college, first with Laney on the junior college level, and then later with Cal. As a senior at Cal he had 790 rushing yards and added 164 more yards receiving while playing in the Pac-12 Conference.
Still, when the 2013 NFL Draft Day came, the phone didn’t ring. Anderson proved any doubters wrong, putting together a solid NFL career with 3,497 total rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns. He added another five touchdowns and 900 yards receiving.
Although Anderson began his NFL career as a backup, his playing time increased over the next few years, with his favorite season coming in 2015. That year he helped the Broncos get to Super Bowl 50, with a few big games along the way. On Dec. 2, after a 30–24 win against the New England Patriots in Week 12, Anderson was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week. During that contest, Anderson compiled 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score down the left sideline in a snowstorm.
That was nothing compared to what he did in Super Bowl 50, when he treated the crowd at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara to 90 rushing yards, including a touchdown in the fourth quarter that gave Denver a two-score lead late. The ex-Jaguar also played in the 2019 Super Bowl for the Los Angeles Rams against New England and the 2014 Super Bowl for the Broncos against Seattle. Anderson’s team lost both games.
Anderson, a non-paid assistant at Cal last year, hopes to bring some of the same attitude that made him successful as a player to his coaching career.
“I learned a lot from coaches such as Sean McVay and Gary Kubiak who were all players’ coaches,” Anderson said. “I learned a lot from players such as Peyton Manning, Champ Bailey and then other opposing coaches like Andy Reid and Bill Belichick. So I’ll take a lot of stuff from them. I’m willing to pay my dues coaching and I’m going to keep on grinding, but hell yeah I’m going into coaching with the same chip-on-your-shoulder attitude.”
Anderson said he would be meeting with his team for the first time on Wednesday, with practice set to start on Thursday. Monte Vista went 0-6 last season in the East Bay-Mountain League, but four of those losses were by seven points or less. Anderson is optimistic the team can turn things around.
Monte Vista is in Danville, about 30 miles away from Vallejo, where Anderson is currently living. However, the former Jaguar doesn’t see a regular season matchup with Bethel anytime soon, although he wouldn’t rule out the two schools hooking up in a summer league passing camp or 7-on-7s.