Judge, Tooele football: For Cordova, Groth, coaching a 'family thing'

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Judge Memorial football coach James Cordova remembers the conversation he had with Ray Groth like it happened yesterday.

Groth had extended Cordova an offer to be his defensive coordinator at Granger High School. For Cordova, the offer was enticing. After all, the two had already coached together for years. But just to make sure Cordova accepted, Groth sweetened the pot.

"If you come coach with me," Groth said. "I'll let you marry my daughter."

Of course, that was already going to happen, and Cordova is now Groth's son-in-law. The two are as close as can be.

For Cordova, Groth is a father figure, one of the key people in his life. Groth was there for Cordova throughout the frustrating two years when the Bulldogs did not have a home football field to play on.

But Groth has always been there, mentoring Cordova through the nuances of being an effective coach. It's no coincidence that Cordova credits Groth with his maturation a head coach.

"He knows me," Cordova said. "He's been there with me through my entire career. That's why it's so hard to play against him. There are few things that I find tougher."

The coaches' respective teams have played against each other in each of the last two years, with Judge coming through with a 17-14 win over Tooele last Friday night in the season opener. Both times, the two coaches had dinner the night before, putting aside the game for family, knowing that the two teams would be trying their hardest to beat each other the next night.

"It gets pretty hard," Groth said. "He wants to win, I want to win. Right now, I'm licking my wounds today because we really thought we had a chance to win. James knows football, he's been around, he studies the game. He knows what he's doing. Judge has a very good team, and that's going to be a team that has the chance to go far once the season progresses."

Off the field, the Groths and Cordovas take a few weeks each summer for a trip in Montana where the cell phones are turned off and football is forgotten about. The two describe their relationship as "ideal". Both talk to each other after nearly every game.

As coaches, the two share the same philosophies, but take different routes to accomplish them. Cordova is light-hearted, always good for a joke. Groth is old school, with an old-school coach's bark.

Both have had much success over the years. And both look forward to many more years of their teams playing well. They just don't look forward to playing against each other.

"He's family to me," Cordova said. "A big reason for everything that I've experienced is him, and my relationship with him."