Tustin Coach Tony Lopez Returns to Damien 20 Years After Coaching Career Began

When Tony Lopez looks across the field Thursday night, he will see considerably more than Tustin High School's next opponent.

He will see where his coaching career began. The matchup was originally scheduled to be Spectrum SoCal’s game of the week but will not be televised after being moved to Thursday.

Lopez graduated from Damien High School in 2006, but his transition from player to coach started before he had even finished his senior year. During the spring, Lopez was already helping coach the Spartans' junior varsity team.

Twenty seasons later, after a coaching journey that has included stops at Tustin and Mission Viejo, Lopez will return to his alma mater as Tustin's head coach.

Where Lopez Learned to Coach

"This is my 20th season coaching high school ball, and my ninth season as head coach at Tustin," Lopez said. "So I've been at it for a while."

Along the way, Lopez has worked with several accomplished Southern California coaches. He spent time at Tustin under the late Greg Gano before coaching at Mission Viejo and eventually returning to lead the Tillers.

But when Lopez considers the people who most shaped his coaching philosophy, his mind still goes back to Damien.

Lopez credits former Damien coaches Scott Morrison and John Carroll, along with Rob Johnson and Sam Baker from his time at Mission Viejo, as significant influences.

"Those guys really shaped who I am as a coach and why I coach, I guess is the best way to put it," Lopez said.

A Purpose Bigger Than Football

For Lopez, that "why" has become increasingly important over two decades on the sideline.

"Any coach that coaches for wins and losses is going to lose in the end," Lopez said. "You have to have a deeper meaning. You have to have a bigger why."

His is straightforward.

"The whole reason I coach is to help kids and impact kids that need help," Lopez said. "That's why I came back to Tustin. There's a lot of kids at Tustin that, you know, need help. They just don't have it."

Football, Lopez says, is the vehicle.

"Football is a vessel for learning life lessons," Lopez said. "I try to get kids to recognize that as often as I can."

That philosophy is rooted in Lopez's own experience.

Lopez said his parents divorced when he was young, and he remembers his defensive line coach at Damien, Coach Howe, becoming an important father figure in his life.

"It kind of showed me, like, this isn't just football," Lopez said. "There's more to this than just football, which is why I took a liking to coaching."

Now, Lopez tries to provide that same influence for the players who come through his program.

"Every kid's different, and you have to treat every kid different," Lopez said. "They learn differently. They grow differently. And you, as a coach, have to adjust to see how to get the most out of each individual."

Tustin's Talent Tested by Injuries

Lopez entered this season with one of the most talented rosters he has coached at Tustin.

The Tillers’ 2027 defensive core features four nationally recruited prospects with major college commitments.

Taven Epps, a 6-foot-4 edge rusher/linebacker, is committed to Oklahoma and is rated by On3 as the No. 103 overall prospect nationally in the 2027 class. Safety Khalil Terry, ranked No. 167 nationally by On3, is committed to UCLA.

Defensive lineman Jon Ioane is committed to Washington, while Jeremiah Williams is committed to BYU. All four are ranked among On3’s top 300 prospects nationally in the Class of 2027.

Ioane, who also starts at offensive tackle, suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2, leaving Tustin with a significant loss on both sides of the ball.

The problem hasn't been finding high-end talent.

It's been keeping everyone on the field.

Tustin entered the year thin in several areas, and injuries began accumulating almost immediately.

Starting quarterback Ayden Edwards, a highly recruited Class of 2028 prospect, suffered a shoulder injury early in the season. Lopez said Edwards was expected to miss several weeks.

Jackson Perez, another two-way starter, suffered a shoulder injury. Ioane, a starting offensive tackle in addition to his role on the defensive line, is out for the season. Lopez's son, Nater, who was projected to start, tore his ACL shortly before fall camp.

Tustin has found ways to adapt.

After opening the season with a 17-0 loss to San Clemente, the Tillers responded with a 35-0 shutout of Foothill.

Then came perhaps their most impressive result yet — a 16-13 victory over Long Beach Poly.

And they did it with one of their best receivers playing quarterback.

Hayden Koo Goes From WR1 to QB1

With Edwards unavailable, Tustin turned to four-star 2028 wide receiver Hayden Koo to take snaps behind center.

Koo entered the season as one of the most coveted young receivers in California. The 6-foot-2 prospect carries a 90 rating from 247Sports, with a recruitment that already includes interest and offers from programs across the country.

Instead of exclusively catching passes, however, Koo has been asked to throw them.

After helping Tustin knock off Long Beach Poly, Koo summed up his new job on social media:

"WR1=QB1."

WR1=QB1 pic.twitter.com/pDor4a4eHj
— Hayden Koo 4 ⭐️ (@Haydenkoo0) September 7, 2026

It's the type of adjustment Lopez has needed throughout an opening month in which the roster he expected to have has rarely been the roster available to him.

Still, Tustin's identity has remained intact on the other side of the football.

A Defense Loaded with Playmakers

"Our defense is phenomenal," Lopez said. "We got some really big playmakers on that side of the ball."

The recruiting rankings support Lopez's assessment.

Even with injuries affecting the lineup, Lopez remains confident in the defense.

Williams has provided a particularly imposing presence in the trenches.

The BYU commit is listed at 6-foot, 320 pounds by On3 and carries an 89.00 rating, placing him among the service's top 300 prospects nationally in the 2027 class.

His play has also started making the rounds on social media.

MaxPreps recently featured a Williams highlight with the caption, "Jeremiah Williams is a beast on both sides of the ball," showcasing the type of physicality Tustin can put at the line of scrimmage.

Running back/defensive end Davyon Curtis and Steele Holcomb are among the other players Lopez specifically pointed toward as important pieces for the Tillers.

But even a roster with that level of top-end talent can only absorb so many injuries.

Lopez said Tustin entered the season with roughly 14 or 15 linemen total. With multiple players already going down, depth up front has become one of the team's most pressing concerns.

It hasn't changed what Lopez expects from his team.

"Our expectations every year is to be the best team we could be, win league," Lopez said. "Our expectation is to be the best team we could be going into the playoffs."

Back Where It Started

Before Tustin gets to league play, Lopez has a familiar program waiting.

Damien.

Lopez knows what Thursday night's opponent represents perhaps better than most opposing coaches could.

He praised Damien coach James Stewart — himself a Damien alumnus — and believes Stewart's connection to the school has helped him understand what it takes to lead the program.

"They're well coached," Lopez said. "Coach Stewart does a great job. I really, really like him at Damien. But as a Damien alumni, I think he understands the culture that's there, how to get things done at Damien."

Damien is another strong team in the CIF southern section, with some other key top recruits, like California's top safety, Gavin Williams, a USC commit who received national attention when USC came to visit him via their chopper. Also, they have Boise commit Malachi McFarland in their backfield who notably finished 4th in the 100-meter dash with a wind-aided time of 10.37 seconds at the CIF 2026 State Track and field championships.

That makes Thursday's matchup unusual.

Two Damien alumni will lead opposing programs onto the field.

For Stewart, it is another game leading the school he once attended.

For Lopez, it represents something of a full circle moment.

He was still a Damien student when his coaching career began. The coaches around him helped shape a philosophy he has carried for two decades. His own experience with a coach who became a father figure showed him that the job could mean considerably more than what happened between the sidelines on Friday nights.

Now he returns with a Tustin team that has already been forced to embody many of those lessons.

The starting quarterback is hurt. A four-star receiver has become the quarterback. Multiple two-way starters have gone down. The offensive line is thin.

And Tustin keeps finding ways to compete.

Twenty years after Lopez began coaching at Damien, he'll stand on the opposite sideline Thursday night trying to beat the program that helped teach him why he wanted to coach in the first place.

"They're well coached. They do a good job," Lopez said. "It's going to be a battle Thursday, for sure."

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