Yes. Found out earlier today from one of my coaches who was one of his best friends since they were in middle school. I was fortunate to be on Coach Costa's first two Palma football teams and catch up with him from time to time in the following years. He was a very good coach and built a great staff and more importantly a great person. Those early Palma teams weren't the juggernaut it became under him and after and we had some trying times but he was always positive and we got better. I remember playing linebacker against North Salinas who had a young Anthony Toney (5 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles) at RB and at that time a huge line. We lost but were in the game and in future years he implemented a new offense and the juggernaut took off. He was always there just to shoot the breeze and when you came back to the campus to visit always seemed very excited (he was a calm guy) to see you and catch up. You learned a lot on his team about playing the game the right way and not only football but life. Palma has has a tough year losing great coaches with long time wrestling coach Don Borelli passing a couple months ago. Hopefully after the lock down ends there will be a couple of celebrations of lives for the Palma and Santa Cruz communities to celebrate these great men. RIP Coach Costa...was an honor to play for you, and wrestle for you Coach Borelli.
Norm Costa, a Santa Cruz native and Palma’s legendary football coach, dies at 79
https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2...d-palmas-legendary-football-coach-dies-at-79/
