Les Franco was the Most Valuable Player on the 1961 football team, excelling as a linebacker on defense and part-time quarterback on offense. He was also an outstanding linebacker on the 1960 team. Like his father before him, Franco was a very good infielder for three years on Napa Indian baseball teams. He was a second baseman and Co-captain in 1961 and 1962, and his .364 batting average led the team in 1961. He was one of four sophomores to make the team in 1960. He was All-NBL second baseman in 1962. Franco was Student Body President in his senior year before going on to a successful athletic career at the University of San Francisco. At U.S.F., Franco was a starting linebacker on the football team for four years and a third baseman on the 1963 baseball team. He was Captain of the football team three years, a rare achievement in any sport. Franco returned to Napa as an assistant coach from 1969 to 1971 and, after an eight-year absence across town, returned in 1979 for an 11-year stint as head football coach in which his teams won four MEL championships and six sectional playoff games. He was MEL Coach of the Year four times. Franco also had a fine record as head softball coach during this period. It should be noted that during his high school playing years, Napa was not in a league, so all-league honors were not available to him until the baseball season of 1962.
