Steve was a four-sport athlete at Santa Clara High, competing in football, basketball, baseball and wrestling. He was named to All-Frontier League football teams from 1970-72 and was selected to the Ventura County All-Century Football Team by the Ventura County Star. Steve was a three-time All-Frontier League baseball selection as well, earning MVP honors in 1973. He signed a letter-of-intent to play both sports at the University of Oklahoma.
However, after his senior year at Santa Clara, Steve was drafted in the fifth round of the major league baseball amateur draft and signed a contract with the Oakland A’s. He played five minor-league seasons for the Oakland and St. Louis Cardinals organizations as a pitcher before a torn rotator cuff injury forced him to retire. Out of professional baseball, Steve was encouraged by former Ventura College football coach Dick James to play for the Pirates. He played two seasons for VC where he was an All-Western States Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a second-team all-state selection as a tackle.
In signing a letter-of-intent with the SMU football program, Steve became one of the first athletes to have played professional baseball out of high school and return to play Division I football. He was a starting left tackle for the Mustangs when the program was ranked among the best in college football. SMU was the 1981 Southwest Conference champion with a 10-1 record.
Steve has been in the electronics industry for 30 years.
For more than 20 years, Steve has been an assistant football coach at Ventura College. He was the school’s baseball coach in 2006. He has coached Foothill little league baseball for 15 years, VYBA for 20 years and youth football and club basketball for 10 years.
Among the athletes that he has coached include: Tyler Ebell, Mike Frick, Noah Lowry and Billy Griffin.
He has been married to Pam for 42 years.