Former 49ers' quarterbacks Steve Young, John Paye to coach Menlo girls flag football team
Girls flag football is all the rage heading into the 2023-24 school season and Menlo School of Atherton (Calif.) has gone all in.
The Knights have hired a pair of former NFL quarterbacks — Hall of Famer Steve Young will assist head coach John Paye, who already has a market on the high school scene.
Paye, a 1983 Menlo alumnus, is already the Menlo School girls basketball coach. He led the Knights to three straight state titles in his first three seasons starting in 1989 shortly after he left the 49ers as a backup.
He and the Knights added a fourth state crown in 2018-19.
The California Interscholastic Federation sanctioned girls flag football as an official sport by a 146-0 vote in February to start in 2023-24, a year after the Southern Section launched the initiative. The San Francisco Section has held championships for the sports since 2012-13.
John Paye (15) with NFL Hall of Famers (left to right) John Montana (16), Steve Young and coach Bill Walsh in 1988. Photo courtesy of John Paye.
The season begins Aug. 21 and lasts through early November. Nearly 40 girls have shown interest, according to Menlo Director of Athletics Earl Koberlein. Many girls have already got together on their own, and many more played the game in middle school. Menlo, established in 1915, boasts 795 students from grades 6-12.
It went from all boys to coed in 1979, Paye's freshman year at the school.
Paye, a three-sport star at Menlo who has gone 416-194 during his girls basketball coaching tenure, not only will have Young on his staff, but also assistant athletic director Buffie Ward Williams and baseball coach David Trujillo.
"There's certainly a good amount of excitement (about girls flag football) in the Menlo community," Paye said in a release. "I've been getting photos and videos of some of the basketball players out with their friends practicing and training on their own for the season."
John Paye coached Menlo to four state titles, the last in 2019. Photo: Courtesy of Menlo School.
Said Koberlein: "We are excited to add girls flag football to our sport offerings and provide an opportunity for our female students to play a popular, fast-growing sport. There is so much support among the girls and their classmates, the Menlo community, our fellow schools and at the state and national levels for this exciting athletic endeavor.
"John, Steve, Buffie and David bring so much knowledge and a high level of coaching expertise and experience."
Young's daughter Summer will be a senior at Menlo this season and played on the 18-11 basketball team in 2022-23. She averaged 4.0 points and 5.2 rebounds, second most on the team.
Paye said he's witnessed a lot of changes in girls sports since coaching his younger sister Kate, now an an associate head women's basketball coach at Stanford. He likely never imagined the day when he'd be coaching football to females.
Menlo's middle school team in 2022-23. Photo: Courtesy of Menlo School
According to the NFHS, the number of girls playing flag football in high school in the U.S. doubled to 11,000 between 2008 and 2019. That number jumped to nearly 16,000 in 2022.
The NFL has noticed, with at least 22 teams offering some sort of girls flag football program. Seven other states have already sanctioned the sport: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and New York.
The game is seven on seven with four 12-minute quarters with no clock stoppage until the final two minutes of each half. Then, like tackle football, the clock will stop for incomplete passes, change of possession.
Touchdown are six points and conversions are either one, two or three points, depending on what yard line the scoring team chooses.
"I guess it's a little old-fashioned to say, but it gives everyone an opportunity to play," he said. "In my book, high school sports first and foremost should be fun and a place where you can bond with your classmates."
