Mark Newton announced that he is stepping down from his role as Menlo School’s head football coach after a successful 14-season tenure.
Newton, a 1988 Menlo School graduate, said he is transitioning into other roles, and wants to be more present in his role as a new father while he pursues other educational passions.
During his Menlo coaching career, Newton has 101 wins, three league championships, and four Central Coast Section championship appearances. In addition, his Knights teams have won six CCS Scholastic Championships, awarded annually to the teams with the highest collective GPA in their respective sports. In his last season, the Knights finished with a league title, CCS Scholastic crown, and a trip to the section championship.
“I would like to thank all of the students, parents, coaches and staff who have helped make our nationally recognized values-based program such a success over the last 14 years,” said Newton, a former Menlo and UC-Davis quarterback.
Newton has been honored nationally as the Positive Coaching Alliance Double Goal Coach of the Year, and regionally as the Palo Alto Daily News Co-Coach of the Year, San Francisco 49ers Coach of the Week, PAL-Ocean Division Coach of the Year, and PAL Bay Division Co-Coach of the Year. He is a member of the Menlo Athletics Hall of Fame for football, basketball and baseball.
Newton and his wife Whitney, an English teacher at Menlo, welcomed their first child in October.
“I’m excited for this new chapter,” he said.
Newton also teaches history, applied positive psychology, freshman seminar, and history, and has directed plays.
He has a lot to be proud of during his coaching stint, but what he found most gratifying was having a hand in shaping and maintaining a program that is structured truly along value-based education.
Newton said more than Xs and Os, Ws and Ls, he hoped that each player that went through the program had a good sense of themselves and developed “self esteem that’s rooted in being the type of leader that serves others and is respectful and impactful in their family and their community.”
