Ron Ponciano
Ron Ponciano

Bio

Ron Ponciano became the Citrus College Head Football Coach in 2009 after previously serving as the defensive coordinator for four seasons. Coach Ponciano is one of the most experienced coaches in the CCCAA, with over 33 years of experience at the collegiate level.

With Ponciano at the helm, the Owls have turned into one of the first stops for four-year colleges, and one of the top matriculating institutions across the State. He has done it all, by keeping a focus on recruiting local student-athletes and putting them into a position to move on to four-year schools after their time is over at Citrus.

During his tenure, Ponciano has had 125 athletes go on to continue their playing careers at four-year institutions, with over a third receiving NCAA Division I scholarships.

Since 2009, Ponciano has continuely improved the Owls' performance on the field, despite playing in arguably the toughest conference in the State. All the hard work culminated in the 2012 and 2013 seasons when the Owls had their best two year stretch since the mid 70's. In 2012, the Owls went 7-4 overall and qualified for the Orange County Bowl, their first bowl berth in four seasons. In 2013, he took the Owls to a 8-3 record and win over Saddleback College in the 2013 Beach Bowl, Citrus' first bowl victory in 25 seasons. 

Coach Ponciano came to Citrus after being the head football coach at L.A. Valley College for four years. Ponciano has also served as the head coach at California State University, Northridge, and interim head coach at Shasta Community College. Ponciano has served as the defensive coordinator at McPherson College, San Jose State, California State University Nothridge, and Azusa Pacific University. At Cal State Northridge, Ponciano was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year in his first season, becoming just the second coach in the conference's history to earn that honor in their innagural campaign. He has been responsible for creating some of the top defenses in the nation at every level he has coached.

Coach Ponciano was also a Graduate Assistant at University of Southern California, Los Angeles. While working at USC the Trojans won back-to-back Pac-10 championships.

Ron and wife Lisa reside in Alta Loma with their son Chad.