Growing up, there was nothing Joe Germaine wanted more than to be a part of the Mesa Mountain View football program.
This Friday, he will return to his alma mater, this time on the visiting sideline as head coach of the Queen Creek Bulldogs as they matchup against the Toros.
“I have great memories of my experiences (at Mountain View),” Germaine said. “I had a lot of great teams, played with a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches. I’ll always be a Toro deep down inside.”
Germaine became a Mountain View great totaling 2,082 passing yards and 23 touchdowns while leading the Toros to a State Title in his senior season in 1993.
“Going in to that season we felt pretty good about our team and then to get beat the first game of the year, the way we responded to that, we had some adversity, and then we were able to win 13 straight games,” Germaine said. “To cap it off with a State Title, that was a dream come true to be State Champions.”
OHIO STATE, PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
After graduating from Mountain View in 1994, Germaine went on to play a season at Scottsdale Community College before transferring to Ohio State.
In 1997, Germaine helped the Buckeyes win the Rose Bowl over Arizona State passing the game-winning touchdown to receiver David Boston in the final moments of the game. He was named Rose Bowl MVP.
23 Days…
1997 Rose Bowl
Ohio State vs Arizona State
Joe Germaine to Dimitrous Stanley for 88 yards in two plays.
Ohio State won 20-17 pic.twitter.com/vc2iLO4TZN
— Buckeyes in the NFL (@LetsGoBuckeyes) August 9, 2018
As a senior at Ohio State, Germaine set 11 school records, throwing for 3,330 yards and 25 touchdowns. As a Buckeye, Germaine totaled 6,370 passing yards with 56 touchdowns. He was named to the Ohio State Football All-Century Team in 2000.
His record for single-season passing yards was broken in 2018 by quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
The St. Louis Rams drafted Germaine in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He was Kurt Warner’s backup when the Rams won Super Bowl 34.
During his NFL career he also had stints with the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers.
After the NFL, Germaine played in the Arena Football League with the Arizona Rattlers and the Utah Blaze. In 2007 with the Blaze, he became the first quarterback in the league to pass for over 5,000 yards in a season.
COACHING
Germaine was named the head coach at Queen Creek in 2010 after his playing career came to an end. When he got the job he gave his former high school coach, Jesse Parker, a call and Parker asked him to meet to provide some advice.
“Coach Parker is a guy I very much looked up to,” Germaine said. “He’s one of the all-time great coaches. He wrote me down some coaching thoughts that he felt were important for him when he was coaching. I very much treasure what he wrote down.”
Parker led the Toros to four of the schools eight State Titles. He passed away in 2017 due to complications from cancer.
Germaine stepped away from his coaching responsibilities in 2013 to focus on his primary job with Axon Sports. The previous season, in 2012, he led the Bulldogs to an undefeated season and the school’s first State Title.
Former Mountain View teammate Travis Schureman, the Bulldogs offensive line coach, assumed head coaching duties from Germaine after his departure. Under Schureman, the Bulldogs made eight playoff appearances and grew from a 4A school to a 6A school.
“Travis is one of my closest friends and someone that I trust with everything,” Germaine said. “He and I go hand in hand with things and I very much respect him.”
Schureman reassumed his duties as offensive line coach for the Bulldogs with Germaine’s return.
THE MATCHUP
This Friday, when Queen Creek visits Mountain View, some similarities will be on display. Germaine and Schureman have adopted some of the Toro’s style of play at their new school.
Mountain View head coach Mike Fell said he knows the Bulldogs have some Toro in them and is ready to take on the challenge.
“We’re playing a team that has its roots in Mountain View,” Fell said. “They’re playing the Mountain View defense…They do a million things that they learned, so a lot of their stuff is exactly what we’ve done. They’re smart, they’re well coached, they’re physical. We know what to expect from them.”
Check out more notes on the game in our Queen Creek vs. Mountain View: What You Need to Know article.
You can catch the action LIVE on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019 at 7:00pm PT/10:00pm ET on Cox (Ch. 1004) or at yurview.com/live.
