Zuber Takes Command of Chabot 'O'

Chabot College football coach Eric Fanene is excited to announce that former Logan head coach George Zuber is his new offensive coordinator.
Zuber, who had been Chabot’s offensive line coach, has replaced Danny Calcagno, who vacated the OC position to take the head coaching job at California High.
“He has been a huge help this past spring, summer and now fall,” Fanene said of Zuber. “Having a former head coach on staff has its benefits.”
With 26 years of coaching experience, Zuber had a fine 86-30 overall record over 10 years at Logan through 2015. He was 34-1 in the Mission Valley Athletic League before the program gained independent status in 2012. He guided the Colts to the North Coast Section Division I championship game in 2012.
With the football season being pushed back to February during the COVID-19 pandemic, Zuber is making good use of the extra time.
“As much as we want to be out there on the field, a new system, new terminology, all the newness of that, for the coaches it’s helping us and the players too,” Zuber says. “We’ve had several three-week Zoom sessions where we’ve done some install, planted the seed. I think the kids need the extra time to have it digest in their brain.”
The Chabot coaching staff remains solid, but the departure of Calcagno is a big loss.
“He’s been in the program for so long and just all the other things that he brings to the table, that’s a huge loss for the offensive side of the ball,” Zuber says of Calcagno. “And Neal Fromson, who I really enjoyed working with, he’s now working with Danny at Cal High. Losing those two guys, that’s probably like 40 percent of the brain trust of the offense. Maybe more. So, other guys have to step up and fill those roles.”
Coach Fanene, for one, has stepped up as the O-Line coach. Chabot boasts a Division I prospect up front in Shively (Timo) Fua, who is 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds.
Zuber knows versatility is key for any football offense.
“Your offense has to be multiple enough to where you can cater to the guys that you have, so the goal is to be in an 11 personnel which is what I’m used to: a tight end, one running back in pistol, aka the Nevada-style pistol, is the bread and butter of my offensive system.”
In previous years Chabot had an H-back and not a tight end, so in Zuber’s offense the tight end position is back in play. The H-back will basically be a slot receiver, the goal being to get a slicer action on offense.

Last year Zuber brought on Jeff Prothero from Logan as his receiver coach. This season he added experienced Joe Figures as assistant defensive backs coach. Figures coached at Logan and at the JC level, and played DB at Oregon, where he was also a Graduate Assistant.
“He’s been around a long time -- great guy -- so he’s joining our staff this year,” Zuber said of Figures. “The other coaches, I’ve coached with a lot of those guys when I was at San Leandro years ago, so it’s a tight-knit group of guys.”
Zuber likes the chemistry of the coaching staff.
“I think we have the talent, coaching-wise, and the desire,” Zuber says. “I’ve always felt like the No. 1 thing for a football team is how the coaches jell. It starts with that.”
Calcagno and Zuber have had similar situations as dads of high school athletes who juggled their schedules to spend time with them. After leaving football coaching at Logan, Zuber was able to see his older son, Aidan, play water polo for three years at San Leandro High, before returning to coaching at Chabot. Zuber's younger son, Elias, currently plays water polo.
Calcagno and Zuber “had each other’s back” as they juggled coaching and parenting roles.
“It worked out great,” Zuber says.
Now he's ready to roll again at Chabot, slicing and dicing opposing defenses along the way.