{"id":17699,"date":"2025-10-22T12:20:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/17699\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T12:20:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:20:23","slug":"local-coach-ascends-to-san-jose-hall-of-fame-morgan-hill-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/17699\/","title":{"rendered":"Local coach ascends to San Jose Hall of Fame | Morgan Hill Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ed Buller, who has lived in Morgan Hill for more than 25 years, was the coach of Oak Grove High School for more than two decades. Contributed photo<\/p>\n

When Morgan Hill resident Ed Buller received the call informing him of his induction into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame, he hung up in disbelief and immediately checked the organization\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the other people that were already in the Hall of Fame, and I was like, wow,\u201d Buller recalled. \u201cBeing in the Hall of Fame with Bill Walsh, Dick Vermeil, George Seifert, local high school coaches Ron Calcagno, Benny Pierce. I mean, Pat Tillman\u2019s in the Hall of Fame, Brent Jones is in the Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his induction, Buller joins an elite club of what will be 136 Bay Area sports icons, their achievements immortalized with a bronze plaque on public display in the SAP Center in San Jose.<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Jose\u2019s incredibly rich and diverse sports history makes the Hall of Fame selection process very difficult each year,\u201d wrote SJSA chairman Charlie Faas in a press release. \u201cThe Class of 2025 is a wonderful representation of the deep and meaningful impact athletes and coaches with South Bay connections have made in their respective sports, locally, nationally and internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recognition, announced for the Class of 2025, honors Buller\u2019s remarkable football coaching career that produced 214 wins, 18 league championships and five Central Coast Section titles at Oak Grove High School. With an 84% win rate, Buller ranks among the top three high school football coaches in California history and is one of only 40 to stack up 200 wins.<\/p>\n

But for Buller, the statistics tell only part of the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think coaching is about trying to give knowledge to your student athletes and try to put them in the best position that they can be in to be successful,\u201d Buller said. \u201cAnd hopefully along the way\u2014I had some great mentors when I was playing that really helped me move along through high school and college, so if I could instill that in some of my players, that is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in San Jose, Buller grew up playing multiple sports at Leland High School during the 1970s, including football, basketball and baseball, before continuing his football career at San Jose State University.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then in the \u201870s you played multiple sports,\u201d Buller said. \u201cIt was just a fun thing to do, it was something I really enjoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

After college, Buller transitioned quickly into coaching, beginning as an assistant at his alma mater, Leland High School, in 1979. He became head coach there for three years, winning two league championships, before moving to Oak Grove as offensive coordinator in 1982.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to get 11 guys to do their job, it was just fun,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a real passion for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following year, Buller took over as Oak Grove\u2019s head coach, immediately guiding the Eagles to the CCS Division I title game in his first season. What followed was more than two decades of sustained excellence, earning him numerous accolades.<\/p>\n

During his tenure, Buller\u2019s Eagles made 23 consecutive playoff appearances and reached 10 Central Coast Section (CCS) finals. His coaching prowess earned him CCS Coach of the Year honors three times (1986, 1992, 1999), the CIF\/CCS Model Coach of the Year award in 2003, California State Coach of the Year in 2007, and the Positive Coaching Alliance National Coach of the Year in 2009. He also received NFL Coach of the Week honors nine times.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some fantastic kids do some fantastic things,\u201d Buller said. \u201cIt\u2019s been great to be a small part of their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among those \u201cfantastic kids\u201d were seven future NFL players: Tim Ryan, Andre Carter, Marcus Reese, Jamar Julian, Eric Frampton, G.B. Wilson and James Hodges.<\/p>\n

Buller\u2019s success extended beyond high school football. From 1990-92, he joined San Jose State\u2019s coaching staff, helping the Spartans capture two Big West championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really, really good,\u201d Buller said. \u201cWe won two championships, and we ranked in the nation. It was a good time to be a Spartan.\u201d<\/p>\n

He returned to Oak Grove in 1994, reprising his role as head coach while also serving as athletic director. His final section title came in 2007 with a victory over Gilroy in the Open Division championship.<\/p>\n

One season stands out among the many successful campaigns: a 13-0 record that marked the only undefeated season in Oak Grove history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was fantastic,\u201d Buller said. \u201cNo one in the history of the school has ever gone 13-0. There have been a lot of 12-1 teams, but no 13-0. That was a really special group of kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team featured two Division I running backs who both became starters at their respective colleges. But Buller emphasized that individual talent alone doesn\u2019t produce perfection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were just good kids that came every day to practice, came every day to get better, to make their teammates better, to make the team better,\u201d he said. \u201cThey had a teachable spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buller retired from coaching football in 2008 but continued as Oak Grove\u2019s athletic director until 2017, also coaching the school\u2019s golf team. The different pace suited his later years.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaching the kids was very different from the culture of football,\u201d Buller said. \u201cIn football you\u2019re coaching seven days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, Oak Grove honored Buller\u2019s three-decade impact by naming its football field \u201cEd Buller Field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now a Morgan Hill resident for more than 25 years, Buller spends his retirement playing golf, traveling and enjoying time downtown with his wife, a high school teacher. Their daughter teaches first grade in Montana, and they have a grandson who is a junior in high school.<\/p>\n

Buller will be inducted Nov. 6 at SAP Center, joining 135 other South Bay sports icons. The event, which benefits Special Olympics Northern California and high school sports programs, is expected to draw 600 attendees.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne person doesn\u2019t do it alone,\u201d Buller said of his achievement. \u201cI had a lot of great mentors, a lot of great assistant coaches and players. There was always somebody there for me, so I\u2019m passing it on for someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Poch, SJSA Executive Director, said the South Bay sports community looks forward to honoring Buller alongside the other four inductees: rugby player Todd Clever, aka \u201cCaptain America\u201d; three-time World Cup soccer player Landon Donovan; women\u2019s wrestling World Medalist Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston; and former San Jose Giants General Manager Mark Wilson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe San Jose Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025 represents all that we value, including integrity, work ethic, sportsmanship and excellence,\u201d he said. \u201cIndividually and collectively, their accomplishments, both in the Bay Area and across the world of sport, are the stuff of legend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ed Buller, who has lived in Morgan Hill for more than 25 years, was the coach of Oak…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[15130,193,15131,88,90,89,200,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-17699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-ed-buller","9":"tag-morgan-hill","10":"tag-oak-grove-high-school","11":"tag-san-jose","12":"tag-san-jose-headlines","13":"tag-san-jose-news","14":"tag-south-bay","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}