It's a simple word that hadn't been heard much for years at Buena Park: win.
"We expect to win now. It's not just, 'Man, let's just work hard and hopefully we'll get a win,'" said James Christy, the team's quarterback.
White changed the losing culture at Buena Park. Before his arrival, the Coyotes lost 50 of 59 games since 2002 with only one league victory that came by forfeit.
White led Buena Park to the playoffs in his first season in 2010, and the Coyotes are racking up wins again in 2011.
"A lot of people might be soft right now, but we're not. We work hard to win here and we're reaping those benefits," said White.
White inherited a roster with only 12 players in the spring of 2010. He walked the campus, recruiting kids to play. There are now 46 players on the team, but more than half have never played football before high school.
This wasn't White's only obstacle. Many of his players have real-life difficulties at home.
White said he grew up without a father and has been through much of the same adversities as his players, so he doesn't accept many excuses when it comes to football or getting an education.
"You've heard the slogan before that life is 10 percent what happens and 90 percent how you react to it, and with our staff here, what we do really is we coach the person. We don't coach the player. We coach people o be better and the field will take care of itself," said White.
Coach White, he's an incredible person. He's a father figure to some of these players, you know. He's a great coach and he helps us with everything," said Carlos Mota, the team's linebacker.
The Coyotes went from being perennial losers to the playoffs in one year. There's a new vibe in Buena Park, right down to the pregame dance.
White tells his players, "Give me four years and I'll give you 40 years of life lessons."
In just over one year, White has already given Buena Park as many wins as they had in seven years before his arrival.
