He was born with the name Stefano Calderana, but don’t dare call him by that name.
The new Memorial High School head football coach has always been known as Bear.
“I guess I’ve been Bear since I was about a year old,” said Calderana, who was named as the Memorial head grid coach when former coach Oscar Guerrero was promoted to a vice-principal’s position, forcing Guerrero to resign as head coach.
“I think it was my uncle who gave me the name and it just stuck,” Calderana said. “I’m now never called by my first name. I’m Bear now. I’m used to it. I don’t know myself as anything else. I always introduce myself as Bear.”
So Bear Calderana it will – and will remain as such.
Calderana is a Memorial High School graduate and former Tiger football player who played for the late Tony Ferrainolo in the early 1990s and later coached with Ed Sargent with the very good Tiger team in 1998, a team that handed St. Peter’s Prep its last HCIAA loss with Hudson Reporter Male Athlete of the Year Jonathan Robinson as a quarterback.
“Eddie Sargent gave me my first coaching job,” Calderana said. “I was an assistant coach at Memorial for five years.”
Calderana then moved with teammate and friend Gabe Infante to Queen of Peace in North Arlington, then went to Bergen Catholic and finally St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, when Infante, another Memorial grad, took the head coaching job there.
“I actually moved to Philly for a bit,” Calderana said. “I’ve been to a bunch of places.”
Last year, Calderana moved back to West New York to return to his alma mater. Now, he moves in as the head coach of the Tigers.
“It’s something that I’ve worked for my entire life,” Calderana said. “I’ve worked with some great coaches, tremendous coaches, who helped to put me in this position.”
Calderana was an assistant coach last year under Guerrero, who was the head coach for the past five seasons, leading the Tigers to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV playoffs in 2011.
“Oscar and I had a great relationship,” Calderana said. “He gave me tremendous leeway to do what I wanted. I had a lot of say in what was going on. The kids all know my personality and my style of doing things.”
Calderana knows that he’s walking into a position that has held tremendous importance over the years. Hall of Famers like the late Joe Coviello and the late Ferrainolo held the role of Memorial head coach, back at a time when the Tigers were the premier public high school program in the county.
“I know about the tradition of the high school,” Calderana said. “I guess I feel the weight of responsibility of being with the great coaches who walked through that front door. I started to think the other day, like, wow, I’m responsible for the last 50 years. That’s a big responsibility. I just have to try to live up to it all.”
The Tigers were 4-6 in each of the last two seasons, just missing out on the postseason. Calderana just wants to keep the ball rolling in the right direction – so much so that Guerrero has agreed to remain on as a volunteer assistant coach.
“Oscar had faith and confidence in me to handle a lot last year,” Calderana said. “The kids all know me. The transition to becoming the head coach hasn’t been that bad. I know how to handle the different situations.”
Junior Donovin Diaz (6-1, 185) is the team’s starting quarterback. Diaz was a wide receiver last year.
“But he was a quarterback all the time he was growing up,” Calderana said. “He just needed a little more experience, but he’s ready.”
The main running back duties will be shared by junior Julio LeBron (5-9, 165) and junior Andy Majano (5-6, 150).
The fullback duties are being shared by senior Luis Tevallos (5-10, 175) and Smelvin Morel (5-9, 175). That’s no misprint. The boy’s name is actually Smelvin. We don’t make up things like that. It’s definitely in the running for name of the year in Hudson County football.
The Tigers have three receivers to go top in senior Justin Bailey (5-8, 160), Ayan Castro (6-3, 190) and sophomore Pedro Morales, Jr. (5-7, 160). Morales is no relation to the famous pro wrestler with the same name. In fact, this Morales never even heard of the other. Bailey is playing with a cast on his right hand, because he suffered a broken hand in preseason.
The tackles are juniors Fredy Cabrera (5-9, 185) and junior Fernando Alvarado (5-11, 190), who was a fullback and tight end last year and was moved inside to help the line because of his blocking skills.
The guards are senior Jared Arias (5-11, 295) and sophomore Ricardo Sorto (5-8, 175). Senior Justin Almonte (6-0, 240) returns to his starting slot at center.
Defensively, the Tigers use a 4-3 alignment. Almonte and senior Pat Black (5-11, 175) are the defensive ends, with Arias and junior Kevin Lizana (6-3, 340) at defensive tackle. That’s also no misprint. The boy is actually 340 pounds soaking wet.
“He’s a pretty big boy,” Calderana said.
The linebackers are Castro, Alvarado and Tevallos, with Diaz and promising freshman Christian Morales (5-9, 160) at cornerback and Bailey, broken hand and all, will return at safety, along with senior Willie Ojeda (5-11, 180).
After opening with Barringer of Newark this weekend, the Tigers tackle Newark East Side next weekend.
“I do like the makeup of this team,” Calderana said. “We’re young, we’re small and we’re inexperienced, but we play hard. This team will go out and compete. I am a big believer in competition. If you can compete, then that’s half the battle. I think these kids will go out and get better every day. At the end of the season, that improvement will pay off.”
So said by the man they call “Bear.” His real name will never appear in these pages ever again, much like Union City baseball coach Chipper Benway of Union City. His real name is known, but never appears in print. Calderana now gets the same distinction. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com