Legacy is a key concept at Heritage; Broach exemplified it

Kraig Broach addresses his players following another victory during the 2014 season. His career coaching record is 117-31. Staff photo by Doug Spoon

By Doug Spoon, Editor

In 12 seasons, Kraig Broach’s football teams at Heritage High School posted a combined record of 117-31. Over an eight-year period from 2010-17, the Patriots were 94-11, appearing in three CIF championship games and winning the title in 2013.

The list goes on and on. In eight years of competition in the Sunbelt League, Heritage never lost a game. The Patriots also are 10-0 in the history of what locals call the Menifee Bowl – the crosstown rivalry game against Paloma Valley.

But the legacy of Broach, who resigned his position this week, is more than that. It’s about his influence on players, coaches and students in general as the only head varsity football coach the Patriots have ever had. Since arriving for Heritage High’s opening in 2007, Broach has been instrumental in developing a culture of success – both on the field and off.

“I knew we needed a great football coach, somebody who keeps the kids on the right track,” recalled Grant Bennett, superintendent of the Perris Union High School District, who as Heritage’s first principal hired Broach13 years ago. “I knew that the football coach can set the tone for the whole school.

“I went down to his old school (Orange Glen High in Escondido) and interviewed his assistants, administrators, talked to his players. Everything they said about him was glowing."

Described my many as a coach who puts his players’ best interests above all else, Broach stands out in a high school football coaching community that has changed over the years. In the midst of all the pressure to remain competitive and help players earn college scholarships, the job has become a year-round challenge.

“The job requires so much of you,” said Paloma Valley coach Tom Tello, who served as Broach’s defensive coordinator for 10 years. “It really is year-round. But Kraig always puts family first. He really made it a priority.

“I’m not really surprised he made this decision, but it did kind of hit me hard when he called and told me. It feels like the end of a chapter.”

The story really isn’t over. Broach will remain at Heritage as a teacher and will continue to influence the lives of students. As he put it, “it was just time.”

“There’s a lot that goes into being a head coach,” said Broach, 46. “It’s constantly ‘on.’ I’ve been coaching football for 20 years. There’s nothing negative about this. There was no pressure to do this.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I thought this decision was probably right, but saying those words was one of the toughest things I’ve had to do.”

Broach said he informed athletic director Scott Moore and principal Erika Tejeda last Friday, then spent the weekend informing his coaching staff before telling the players on Monday. By Wednesday, the news was spreading and Broach said he felt he needed to make it official in an announcement on the school’s social media sites.

“I didn’t know what to do,” he said about the announcement. “It was kind of awkward. I’m not really comfortable with things like that. Someone from a website asked today if it was true, so I finally posted something on it.”

In his public message to “Patriot Family”, Broach wrote, “The support from everyone has been more than I could ever have asked for. We’ve had a great run and I’m confident that Patriot football will continue to excel.”

Broach admits he had never heard of Menifee or Romoland before he interviewed for the job. Yet his people skills impressed Bennett as much as his coaching skills, and the superintendent recalls the early success Broach had in developing both players and positive young people.

Broach and his players celebrate winning the CIF-SS Central Division championship in 2013.

“I remember one time in the early days,” Bennett said. “The football players did something goofy. It wasn’t malicious, but it was something they shouldn’t have done.

“I talked to Kraig about it. That afternoon, every player on the team was lined up in the hallway outside my office to apologize to me, one by one, saying they would never do it again. He doesn’t swear and scream, but he commands respect. He’s done it all in 13 years.”

After coaching a football program that had only freshmen and sophomores with a team playing a JV schedule in 2007, Broach began Heritage’s varsity career in 2008 by leading the Patriots to a 4-6 record in the Mountain Pass League. The next season the Patriots went 5-6, making the CIF playoffs for the first time but losing in the opening round.

It all came together starting in 2010, when Heritage went 11-1, sweeping the competition in its first year in the Sunbelt League and advancing two rounds into the playoffs. By the next season, the Patriots made it all the way to the finals. They did that again in 2013 – beating Rancho Verde 34-33 for the championship – and in 2015. They have gone to the semifinals three other times.

In 2013-14, the Patriots won 22 consecutive games – at the time the longest winning streak in the state.

“When we beat Citrus Hill to go to the finals for the first time in 2011, we kind of looked at each other and realized, for the first time, that we really had something going,” Tello recalled.

Bert Esposito coached against Broach for years while at Paloma Valley. He coached Temecula Valley to a CIF title last fall.

“Everybody gets to that point where you have to start wondering, how long do you keep investing in it?” Esposito said. “I know how it is. In order to keep up these days, you have to almost become like a college program. It’s year-round.

“Kraig is a solid guy, very consistent. He built the program the right way.”

Broach poses with team captain Reggie Murphy during the team's preseason Legacy Ceremony in 2014.

Moore, the school’s athletic director, also had high praise for Broach.

“I truly appreciate coach Broach for all he has done in building our program and putting Heritage on the map in football,” Moore said. “As great a football coach as he is, Kraig is an even better person, and we will miss his leadership.”

Broach has been honored by many community groups over the years. He was honored by the Menifee Rotary Club in 2012 and by the Menifee City Council following his team’s CIF title in 2013. In 2014, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints presented Broach with its Family Values Award, which was established to “recognize the honorable efforts of moral, upstanding community leaders who, while not members of the Church, are striving to advance standards and values that are consistent with the Church’s position on family.”

Throughout it all, Broach has done his best to avoid media questions about his team’s winning streaks and playoff success, preferring to keep the focus on the players.

“Everything just sort of came together,” he said. “And we’ve had some pretty good players. We had over a decade of success, but it was really more about relationships I built with the kids.”

It was commonplace to see former players come up to greet Broach on the field after a victory. The coach usually had his young daughter Kalee by his side. Over the years, a tradition developed of handing the Menifee Bowl trophy to her in the postgame celebration.

Kalee is a freshman at Heritage this year. Her older sister, Kenna, is a senior. Younger brother J.J. will soon be attending the high school as well. And for Broach? He will keep working with students as a teacher and maybe even show up as a spectator in the football stadium on Friday nights.

“If I’m welcome,” Broach said with a laugh. “I’m sure I’ll be around, but at the same time, whoever takes over, it’s their program. I will respect that.

“It will be more than weird. I was joking with Tonya [his wife]. I’ll have to find something to do with my time. I told Kalee I’ll just follow her around to all the sports she plays.”

Amber Garcia, whose son played for Broach and who has spent years photographing games and promoting the program on social media, paid tribute to the coach on the Menifee 24/7 Facebook page.

"Coach Broach was a great coach, teacher, father and friend,” wrote Garcia. “He is the kindest person in a tough position who, at times, carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He encouraged and challenged a lot of kids to be the best they can be.

“He was a great mentor to kids who sometimes didn't have the best home life or support. He gave his all to every child he came across, both in a classroom and on the field. I had the pleasure of helping him and the team many years and know that he is the type of guy that would give you the shirt off his back.”

Amy Frahn has watched two of her sons play for Broach and a daughter take part in the cheer team on the football sidelines.

“In 2007, when Heritage opened, he coached my oldest son and a handful of other young men,” Frahn recalled. “I remember the stadium was not complete, only the field, no bleachers, no lights. Just a man, a few of his coaching staff and a group of young men who created a foundation that ultimately put HHS on the map.

“Coach Broach’s dedication was not only to the game, it was to the players on his field. He created a legacy at Heritage, as well as in this town, and that will never be forgotten. He will be dearly missed.”

Coach Broach addresses the players after the Patriots won their third straight Sunbelt League title in 2012.

Broach hugs linebacker Christian Weible after Heritage's state-leading 22-game winning streaks ended in 2014.

Broach and his players join school principal Erika Tejeda in celebrating the program's 10th consecutive Menifee Bowl win in 2019.