Sports at Lunch, Ron Caragher, Josh Johnson and Eric Bakhtiari

HOC photos: Darryl Wheeler.

University of San Diego football coach Ron Caragher is about to embark on his first season with the Toreros, so when he came to the Hall of Champions July 26 for Sports at Lunch, he told a story about how the former Kentucky assistant by way of UCLA returned to the West Coast as the head coach of a non-scholarship program national power.

It's a story worthy of an endorsement deal with Trader Joe's, the unique specialty food store found mostly in the West, including San Diego.

Caragher was recruiting for Kentucky in western Ohio and the Cincinnati area on a weekend that the Wildcats had a bye. Before he went to see some Friday night high school games, he noticed in the newspaper that USD was playing a game Saturday at Dayton University.

When he drove home, he suggested to his wife, Wendy, they take their kids to Dayton for an all-day trip.

“One, I told her there is a Trader Joe’s in Dayton -- the only one within 2 ½ hours,” Caragher said. “Two, I said there was a great Air Force Museum; and third, I said, ‘Oh, by the way, we can take in football game in 30-degree weather.’ ”

Caragher had no way of knowing the USD job would open two years later when Jim Harbaugh left for Stanford, but he liked what he saw in the game between non-scholarship programs.

“I had never been to a non-scholarship game, and these guys were having fun and playing hard,” Caragher said. “I told my wife it would want to coach a place like that where academics are important and they have a passion for the game.”

If Caragher can sell San Diego football fans on Toreros football as well as he did his wife on attending a football game at Dayton on a bye weekend, count on USD winning a third straight NCAA Mid-Major national title.

The Toreros returns four Mid-Major All-Americans with senior quarterback Josh Johnson, senior defensive end Eric Bakhtiari, senior center Jordan Paopao and junior running back J.T. Rogan for Caragher to rely upon in the coaching transition.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled as a first-year coach to have key guys like these three seniors leading the charge,” Caragher said. “I think our season began back in February when I met with the team and we talked about goals. Then we strategize a game plan to achieve those goals.”

In Johnson, from Oakland Tech, the Toreros’ feature a quarterback considered a possible first-day draft pick in April. Bakhtiari, from Burlingame, is a defensive end expected to be in an NFL camp as a free agent.

Paopao and Rogan are local recruits, with Paopao from El Camino and Rogan from Coronado.

The Toreros open training camp on Aug. 7 and play their season opener on Sept. 1 at Azusa Pacific, an NAIA national power. USD returns home for a Sept. 8 game against Marist and Sept. 15 against Northern Colorado, which will be a test against a scholarship program.

“The expectation level with these guys is very high, and they are achievers,” said Caragher, a UCLA quarterback and assistant under Terry Donahue before joining Rich Brooks’ staff at Kentucky. “These young men are not settling for anything less than achieving their goals, and we as coaches won’t let them settle for anything less. Our job is to push them beyond any mental barriers so they can be all they can be as athletes.”

Caragher also invited his players to speak to the Sports at Lunch audience, and they spoke of a smooth transition with the change of coaching staffs.

What else did Caragher and his players say? You should have been at Sports at Lunch.