Jesse Freitas, an offensive innovator who coached Serra football teams during separate stints in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, passed away at his home in San Diego Monday morning due to an illness. He was 99. His Serra teams won league championships seven times, four in the old CAL, three in the WCAL. His 1954 team, 9-0, remains the last unbeaten Serra varsity. His 1968 team, 9-1, lost one game by a single point to Vallejo and wound up tied with Alameda as the No.1 prep team in Northern California. That Padres unit featured three future pros, Lynn Swann, Tom Scott and the coach's son, Jesse. The elder Freitas, a Red Bluff native, was a quarterback at Santa Clara University. He then served with the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II; he won a Bronze Star as an artillery officer in the Battle of the Bulge. In 1946, he was drafted by the 49ers and was a member of the new franchise's first-ever team. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living ex-Niner. At Serra, he produced an overall 102-49-3 record. Funeral services have not been announced due to restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Jesse Freitas dies
- Thread starter colhenrylives
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Had him as a Algebra 2 teacher in late 70's. He was no longer coaching but would pull me aside and diagram offensive sets while knawing on a unlit cigar. I said "Mr.Frietas Im a defensive back". He said the problem is your offensive guys are still taking geometry lol
Freitas was an interesting character. Back in the day when he was blessed with outstanding skill guys, he would point out that he didn't need a stable of huge, powerhouse linemen. "I can teach any kid to pass-block," he said on more than one occasion. Furthermore, he did not believe in lots of heavy contact during practices. He felt the risk of injury was too great and he didn't want to wear out his players during the week. Scrimmages were extremely rare. Typically, he had just one assistant coach. In many important ways, he was a lone wolf. He did not suffer fools (or bad officiating) gladly or well. He could be brusque but he had a sardonic wit. He had seen it all, at every level of football, not to mention actual wartime combat. He was married twice and lost both wives to illness. He lost his oldest son, Jesse, in 2015 when he was found dead in the backseat of a car in Petaluma, cause of death unknown but he had suffered from a manic depressive disorder for decades (which sadly derailed his NFL career with the Chargers in the 1970s). The elder Freitas had some of his greatest football battles at Serra with John Hanna and Bellarmine. The Bells were considered top-of-the-heap among NorCal's Catholic schools but Freitas' teams managed to go toe-to-toe with them most of the time. One of Freitas' most memorable W's vs. the Bells occurred in 1969 when Serra (with most of its top skill players graduated from the stellar 1968 unit) shut out Hanna's team, 14-0, with Lynn Swann scoring all 14 Serra points as a quarterback, kicker, kick returner and free safety. Freitas had dramatically changed the Serra offense that year to accommodate Swann's multiple talents; the '69 Padres were actually a run-heavy outfit with Swann operating the show out of the option. Freitas, both wily and flexible, was both a throwback to a different era and an innovative football mind who, in some ways, was ahead of his time at the prep level for sure.
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