Meridian football makes another coaching change. What does new leader bring?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Meridian football promoted Christian McAlvain to head coach after staff reshuffling.
- McAlvain brings four years at Mountain View and D-II playing experience to the role.
- He takes over for Austyn Carta-Samuels, who will become the offensive coordinator.
A second coaching change this offseason made Christian McAlvain the next Meridian High football coach, elevating the former Mountain View assistant to his first head coaching position.
McAlvain, 31, originally joined the Warriors’ staff this offseason as their associate head coach and wide receivers coach. But after Austyn Carta-Samuels decided to step back and become the team’s offensive coordinator, the school tabbed McAlvain to take over the program.
The West Ada school board finalized the hire last week.
“I’m just excited to be the head coach at Meridian,” McAlvain said. “I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting to get an opportunity to be a head coach. And I couldn’t be more ecstatic to be working at a school like Meridian, and being the head coach of a football program with kids that I truly believe in.”
McAlvain spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach at Mountain View, including three years as the Mavericks’ quarterbacks coach. The former Northern State (NCAA Division II) quarterback also previously served as an assistant at three Northern California high schools: Montgomery, St. Vincent de Paul and Windsor, his alma mater.
McAlvain said he wants to maintain some of the traditions established by former coach John Zamberlin while putting his own stamp on the program.
“The thing that we want to be known for, especially with our coaching staff, is we’re all about being transformational,” McAlvain said. “We want to make an impact in kids’ lives. We want them to understand what football can give you.
“It’s not just the wins and losses, but the lessons you learn.”
The special-education teacher steps in to steady a program that’s gone through multiple changes this calendar year.
First, Zamberlin announced his retirement in February after leading the Warriors for six seasons. Meridian originally hired Carta-Samuels as its new coach in April, but the former Vanderbilt quarterback and Missouri assistant coach said he chose to become the offensive coordinator because his large social media following and private coaching business brought unwanted attention to the school.
“I realized there are things schools feel comfortable with and don’t feel comfortable with,” he said. “I just wanted to alleviate anything from the school’s perspective.”
But McAlvain said the Warriors’ players have rolled with the punches and are focused on the upcoming season.
“These kids have been ready to go,” McAlvain said. “We have some things that we wanted to do a little bit different, just in the way we’re working with players’ minds and mindset, and just bringing in some outside things that they’ve never heard before.
“They really enjoy it, they’ve been working extremely hard, and I’m really proud of them. They’ve been very resilient with the change, but they’ve also been extremely adaptable. I’m excited about the product that we’re going to have this year, because I think these kids are special.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2025 at 3:35 PM.
