The flag football team has a new person at the helm, with a new head coach for the third time in three years. 

Since the Central Coast Section (CCS) approved women’s flag football in 2023, the sport’s exponential growth has not gone unnoticed. Athletic Director Kerry Murphy illustrates her own perspective on the growth of flag football as a whole and what it has done to impact women all across California.

“I see flag football having that same potential as [youth soccer],” Murphy said. “I’m jealous of the opportunity these girls have because when I was in high school, all I had was Powerpuff.”

After a not-so-long search, new head coach Nick Henry is taking over a team that has had great success since it was established at Branham. 

“I’m looking forward to watching them succeed and do things that they never thought they could,” Henry said.

Henry isn’t shy about coaching football as a sport, having coached the boys team at Del Mar in previous years. But with two sons at Branham and an open head coaching position, he couldn’t say no to the opportunity.

“We wanted someone who had created a love of the game, which is exactly what we want to do,” Murphy said. “And this person has that love of the game.”

After last year’s flag football CCS title appearance, Kaleb Lane was not asked to return to his athletic director role. However, he asked to remain as the coach after the successful 2025 season. He was allowed to, but during the no-contact period for fall sports, the school was notified that he wished to resign as the coach weeks before the season started.

“We had no plan to replace the previous coach after his athletic director duties were finished,”

Murphy said. “We put the position out on Branham’s EdJoin trying to find someone, but luckily one of the coaches here gave us a recommendation for our current coach.”

Varsity veteran and junior Madi Murdock gave her perspective on what the team felt when Lane abruptly resigned.

“I feel we were left so in shock because our coach was just gone,” Murdock said.

Due to the many changes in the coaching staff over these past years, the environment has  changed for these players.

“I just feel we still are getting used to the new coach, the new environment, new expectations and standards that he has for our team,” Murdock said. “It’s different because our previous coach was such an on-campus figure, not just as a coach but also as a teacher and as our athletic director. I feel like with our new coach, it’s a little bit different because not everyone has heard of him or known him.”

Henry brings different ideas and a new foundational structure which can take this team far into CCS.

“We came so close last year and Coach Nick has a really big football background, so I feel like that’s really important for our team, and we need that,” Murdock said.

The flag football team’s praise can’t just be given to the current coach. Each coach and team previous to them has built a foundation and culture for these athletes to step into.

“The foundation and culture were set, and each coach brings something new to it each year,” Murphy said. “This coach is now getting the opportunity to build their culture and still hopefully have that same success in how the players feel as well as how well they perform.”