The 31-year-old left San Diego State in 2002 with more than 3,500 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. That was enough to get him drafted in the fifth round by the Miami Dolphins.
After three years in the NFL, his heart turned to coaching.
"Ever since I played football in high school and went to college and played and went to the NFL and played I knew my ultimate goal was to always come back and coach high school football because I had a high school football coach who had a tremendous effect on me, and I wanted to put myself in the position to maybe have the same effect on other people," Tolver said.
"I really think football is about building character. It's something that you can't really teach, you just have to go out there and do it," he added.
With a hard work ethic, Sage Hill went 15-5 in Tolver's first two years as head coach. It's the only time in the school's 10-year history that they've had back-to-back winning seasons.
It's that leadership that led ABC7 to honor J.R. Tolver as our first Coach of the Week this season. Tolver's program will receive a grant from KABC and the NFL for $1,000.
