In his words, Michaeltore Smith was perfectly "comfortable" in his job as head coach of Camarillo's (CA) flag football team. A 25-3 record last season, a nationally recognized program, a Coastal Canyon League title.
So when Sierra Canyon (CA) first approached him about leading its inaugural flag team this fall, he wasn’t so sure. There were definitely some elements that appealed to him, like the ability to build something from scratch and develop some new players.
And looming large, of course, was the detail of Makena Cook.
“When Makena Cook’s at a school, that makes you stop and think,” Smith said. “That’s the best high school quarterback in the country.”
Smith might be biased, but many would agree with that description. Fresh off of a junior season where she threw for 7,083 yards and 112 touchdowns — all while becoming the first girl to receive a Power 4 collegiate flag offer — Cook catapulted Sierra Canyon to the headlines when she transferred from powerhouse Orange Lutheran and became the face of the program.
All together, it was enough to lure Smith away, and he and Cook are now squarely at the helm of the Trailblazers’ inaugural season. The program has become the talk of the town by shaking up a number of California programs with additional high-profile transfers: standout sophomore wide receivers and defensive backs Ava Irwin and Angelina "Happy" Dubois both transferred from JSerra and Orange Lutheran, respectively.
Cook, for her part, has tried to ignore the hype around her name, her success and now, her transfer.
“It’s cool, but at the end of the day, all this stuff doesn’t matter to me. It’s about what happens on the field, and as long as I take care of business there, that’s all that matters to me," she said.
But now, it’s time for Sierra Canyon to show what they’re made of.
Their first hurdle was dealing with the fact that a flag football team needs to be more than three (albeit impressive) standouts. When Smith arrived over the summer, he had to remedy a largely empty roster by reaching out to other sports at Sierra Canyon, pitching athletes on joining their startup team. They’ve collected a roster of girls that, despite strong athletic prowess in other domains, often have no flag experience. It’s quite the dichotomy with players like Cook and Irwin.
“You got a lot of softball players, basketball players, volleyball players coming out. We’ve just kind of been putting this thing together from scratch. You got a lot of girls brand new to flag football, so it’s definitely a big learning curve,” Smith said.
Cook, as the veteran of the inexperienced team, has taken on a new kind of role among her teammates.
“It’s been super fun for me, being able to start from the beginning and kind of re-learn the game. It’s fun being able to teach the girls and watching the progress being made,” she said.
Their first showing as a team, at the Los Angeles Chargers invitational tournament earlier this month, set a starting point of play for them. They went 3-2 across the weekend, flashing both moments of cohesion and moments of inexperience.
Smith knows that, in some respects, the team has a way to go. But he also has a lot of faith in what they’re building.
“The expectations are high. We’re not here to play patty cake,” he said. “We’re gonna build a program here, and it’s gonna happen faster than people think.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Makena Cook's move sparked a flag football frenzy. Can Sierra Canyon deliver?
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