It's a new program in a different state, but the city limits sign might as well read, "Fallon, Nevada" for Ray Holladay.

If Holladay was looking for a program that most resembled the one he guided at Churchill County High School for the past five years, Santa Fe High couldn't have been a more perfect fit.

The Demons' new head coach, who was hired in March, inherits a team that last won a state title in 1979.

It has just two nonlosing seasons in the last 23 years.

It is one of the smallest schools that competes the highest class in the state — AAAAA.

It is facing a move from AAAAA to AAAA in 2010.

While those facts might scare off most coaches, Holladay embraced it. It's what he dealt with at Churchill County.

That's Churchill County, which won three straight Class AA titles from 1976-78 and has never reached a title game since as a AAA or a AAAA school.

A program that has 27 wins and no winning seasons since 1988.

A school that is one of the smallest in the highest class in Nevada.

It's a school that almost went from AAAA to AAA in 2008 until the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association reversed that move.

The fact that Santa Fe High is moving down a level and Churchill County didn't was a big reason Holladay left. From there, the paths of the two programs slowly diverge.

Holladay can tell already where the Demons stand in his first year compared to where he was at Churchill County back in 2004. It was his first head-coaching job.

"I was telling my wife the other day that we are miles ahead from where we started (at Churchill County)," Holladay says. "The kids are stronger here. The participation is better. In terms of the foundation that we're trying to lay here that we laid there, we're further ahead."

Only 12 players participated in workouts during Holladay's first summer in Churchill County. At Santa Fe High, he has 12 to 15 players who regularly attend workouts from Monday to Thursday, and another 30 to 35 who attend periodically when summer school or their jobs do not create scheduling conflicts.

Holladay also had to deal with substandard facilities, no athletic period, equipment that was in shortage and in poor condition, plus an apathetic attitude toward football in Churchill County.

Brooke Hill, Churchill County's new head coach who was an assistant coach under Holladay, said the program experienced a steep and quick decline after he and his senior group graduated from the school after a winning season in 1988. What Holladay brought to Churchill County was a clear plan on how to build the program to a competitive state.

"The first thing he did was sell the program to the staff that he gathered and to the kids," Hill says. "He had a pretty clear-cut idea of what he wanted to do. Having been here with the head coach before (Holladay), I couldn't always say that."

Holladay was a presence all over the community, from setting up booths at the county fair, to forming a booster club, to establishing a youth football league. Participation grew to about 100 players by 2008 and the team was more competitive than it had been in decades, although the record didn't always show it.

"There were things that weren't a part of their culture when we got there," Holladay says. "When we left, it was a part of their culture. That's part of changing a program. The one thing we needed was that one program-changing win where we beat a team that we theoretically shouldn't beat. If that win had come, the confidence from it would have come."

That same quality also is lacking at Santa Fe High, but Holladay also sees encouraging signs. Holladay likes how quickly the Demons have absorbed his offensive and defensive schemes. While the formations won't look drastically different from what guided the Demons to a 4-6 record in 2008, Holladay says the contrast will be how the players execute those schemes.

"Last year, they played a 4-4 (defense) and we're running a 4-4 this year," Holladay says. "But they are two completely different defenses, philosophically. They both might be 4-4, but they are like night and day of each other."

Despite the differences that made Holladay choose Santa Fe High over Churchill County, he also knows that he is in the same boat that he was in Nevada.

For one more year, at least.

Santa Fe High is still the football pip-squeak marching to the field against opponents who are bigger, stronger, faster and deeper. Holladay recognizes the results might not show on the scoreboard this year, but progress must be made in the weight room, in the practice field, in the locker room and in the classroom.

The biggest issue facing Holladay at Santa Fe High is academic success. At Churchill County, his program was recognized as the top academic team in AAAA in 2007 and 2008. At Santa Fe High, he has several players who are in summer school just to maintain their eligibility, which also affects their time on the field.

What Holladay wants to emphasize to his players is how important maintaining their academic standing is if they want to attend college, much less play at the next level.

"If you want to go to college and if you want that first year of classes to count toward your degree, you need to have a good GPA and the correct core classes," Holladay says. "It's more than just keeping a 2.0 and being eligible to play in high school."

That is just one part of what Holladay wants to build at Santa Fe High. After all, he still has to finish what he started — even if it began 1,090 miles away.

Contact James Barron at 986-3045 or jbarron@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog, the Read Barron, at thereadbarron.com