Group is being organized to attend ceremony for Mankins

There no way around it, an event coming up in Fresno in October is a big deal for Mariposa County.

“We didn’t realize how good of an athlete he was,” said Trace DeSandres, a longtime coach at Mariposa County High School who this year is assisting with athletic director duties while the district searches for a permanent person.

DeSandres is talking about Logan Mankins, probably the most prominent football player to come out of MCHS in the school’s history.

Mankins will have his jersey number placed on the Ring of Honor at Fresno State University during an induction ceremony on Oct. 10.

Because of that, DeSandres and many others, including MCHS Principal Celeste Azevedo, are spearheading an effort to get as many local residents as possible to attend the game and the ceremony.

There is a special group rate for people interested in making the short jaunt to Fresno, and DeSandres said tickets are going fast. So far, 50 tickets are secured for purchase but DeSandres said there could be more, depending on how quickly they sell out for the game.

And it’s a big game as Fresno State takes on Boise State in what will now be a Pac 12 match-up of two quality teams.

To get tickets, visit gofan.co/event/6768285?schoolld=CA16947.

“Anybody who wants to go can,” said DeSandres. “I think the tickets will go fast.”

He stressed there is no organized transportation for the trip so people will have to get themselves to the stadium. He did say they are pondering a tailgate event before the game and he’s hopeful Mankins will be able to have enough time to meet with the contingent following the game.

A big deal

DeSandres said it’s a huge deal for someone from Mariposa to be honored by Fresno State. It’s not surprising, considering Mankins had an illustrious career after he was drafted by the New England Patriots into the NFL.

But backing up, DeSandres said it wasn’t clear early in his career where Mankins was headed.

There was no doubt he was an outstanding athlete. He was named MVP in basketball and baseball at MCHS — but not football.

DeSandres said there came a point where the Fresno State coaching staff were looking at another player in the league and the video showed Mankins, who played offensive lineman, crushing the person they were recruiting.

Pat Hill, then the coach at Fresno State, saw the video and immediately began recruiting Mankins.

Mankins was a red shirt his freshman year and DeSandres said he went from 245 pounds to around 315, which bulked him up and led to what would be a storied career both in college and the NFL level.

“Logan was the nicest kid you’ll ever meet,” said DeSandres, “until he steps across the line.”

Then, he said, Mankins turns into a football animal — and the results have shown.

As DeSandres points out, Mankins still is the only lineman who has ever been named MVP at Fresno State. In addition, there are only 12 athletes on the Ring of Honor, along with a few others associated with the program. Mankins will be the only lineman in that group, as well.

“He’s really excited,” said DeSandres, who spoke with Mankins last week about the induction ceremony.

DeSandres, too, is “so excited” for the event. He personally traveled to 10 NFL games to watch Mankins play. Nine of those were when Mankins was with the Patriots and once was after he was traded to Tampa Bay.

Mankins was a mainstay for the Patriots, protecting someone many think is the all-time greatest quarterback in NFL history, Tom Brady.

DeSandres said when Mankins was traded, Brady hugged his lineman “and sobbed” that he was leaving.

It is no secret the key ingredient to any great quarterback is the protection he has up front and Mankins was one of the best in the business. He could be an NFL Hall of Fame inductee in the future.

The parallels

DeSandres said he can’t help but think about the parallels of when Mankins was playing at MCHS and the current team coached by Chase Pometta, who has turned around the program, going 9-2 last year and making the playoffs.

“Chase is so precise and organized,” he said.

In his entire career, DeSandres said he has never seen someone with Pometta’s coaching style and said it works as all of the athletes have “bought into” the program.

It was a tough road, as Pometta’s teams struggled his first two year, but the payoff was big last year and DeSandres feels this year’s team could be just as good, if not better.

Pometta has been working closely with the local youth programs, something DeSandres said is key in growing a high school program. This year, he said Pometta is planning some camps with the Mariposa Bears youth program.

Storied career

Mankins earned first team Freshman All-American honors as a redshirt freshman in 2001 at Fresno State. He was an integral piece to the 2001 Bulldog offense that became the first in NCAA history to produce a 4,000 yard passer, a 1,000 yard rusher and two 1,000 yard receivers.

In his senior season, he was selected as a second team All-American, leading Fresno State to a No. 22 national ranking that season (2004).

Mankins was a first-round draft choice (32nd overall) by the New England Patriots out of Fresno State in the 2005 NFL Draft. He spent his first nine professional seasons with New England, going to a pair of Super Bowls, then was traded to Tampa Bay in 2014 where he played two more seasons.

Mankins’ durability was one of his strongest traits, playing in 161 of a possible 176 games during his career. He was a seven time Pro-Bowl selection, and was a first team All-Pro in 2010 and second team All-Pro five times (2007, 2009, 2011-13).

Mankins was a finalist for the 2025 New England Patriots Hall of Fame class. He was also named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team. Last September, Mankins was also named a modern-era nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

DeSandres said he thinks that toughness, drive and determination comes from Mankins growing up in Catheys Valley, where he worked day and night on the ranch while also honing his athletic skills.

Mankins settled in Massachusetts, where he lives to this day. DeSandres said last year Mankins was coaching at the high school level and the team went quite a ways in the playoffs.

He also coached his son’s Pop Warner team with none other than Teddy Bruschi, a linebacker on those Patriots team who was an outstanding player in his own rite.

It is not lost on DeSandres the magnitude of what is going to take place in October in Fresno. He is encouraging everyone interested to get tickets to that game and support one of MCHS’s own.