After spending the first 11 years as the offensive line coach for the Falcons, Tom Caines is moving to the other side of the ball and will be the defensive coordinator. In his 11 years as the offensive line coach, Caines has done a phenomenal job with the offensive linemen. In the past eight seasons, 19 of the 26 sophomore offensive linemen have earned Division I scholarships. All in all, he has sent 36 linemen on, with 20 of them going to Division I schools. Caines came to Cerritos College with plenty of community college experience, after serving as the head coach at Hacienda Heights Wilson High School for two seasons before coming to Cerritos College. He spent three years as a coach at Mt. San Antonio College, where he handled the inside linebacker duties, and even produced an All-American. In 1996, he led Wilson High to the league championship, as well as the CIF Championship and a 14-0 record. He began his coaching career at Bishop Amat High School, where he spent three seasons as their defensive line coach.

    Caines was an acclaimed football player, graduating from Damien High School where he was a two-way starter at linebacker and tight end on their 1982 CIF Championship team and earned All-CIF honors as a senior. He then attended Taft Junior College and earned 2^nd Team All-State honors as the Cougars won the 1984 National Championship. Caines then received a scholarship to Long Beach State and led the 49'ers in tackles and was their captain. In his senior season (1988), he earned 2^nd Team All-Pacific Coast Athletic Association honors. The following year, he signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks.

    Caines graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 1989 with a degree in Physical Education and went on to earn his Master’s degree in Education from Azusa Pacific University in 1995.

    During his coaching career, Caines has produced several very good players at both the high school and community college level, including former Falcon offensive lineman Tupe Peko, who was drafted by the New York Jets and spent six years in the NFL and Anthony Guerrero, who was a starting guard for the Florida Gators and is now on the Falcon coaching staff.

    Tom and his wife of 18 years Stacy, reside in La Habra and have three children – Justin (13), Dillan (9) and Bobby (8).