Mario Luna “Torta Power” Almost Quit Football in Mexico | Coach Gil Story

Most people who know me now know me as Mario Luna “Torta Power”. They see Orange Lutheran, varsity football, highlights, recruiting, camps and all the Tortas I post online.

But before any of that, I was just a gordito in Mexico begging his parents to let him play football.

And here's the funny part.

Once they finally let me play, I almost quit. 😂

Seriously. Torta Power almost lasted about two practices.

This isn't really a story about recruiting or offers. It's about where football actually started for me. It's about my parents trying to figure out a sport they barely knew, three bags of ice from OXXO, the wrong pair of cleats and a coach named Gutz Rodriguez “Coach Gil” who didn't let me give up that easily.

It Started With the Rosarito Rangers 🇲🇽

I started playing organized American football in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico with the Rosarito Rangers in OEFA Baja California. You can also follow football from the region through Baja Football.

I had been begging my parents to let me play football.

The problem was we weren't really an American football family.

Soccer? Yes. Baseball? Yes. Boxing? Definitely.

Football?

Not really. 😂

My mom especially wasn't excited about it.

Typical Mexican mom. 😂

I kept asking anyway until my dad finally signed me up.

Behind my mom's back.

Great day for me.

Probably a couch night for him. 😂

But I didn't care. I finally got what I wanted.

I was going to play football.

Then I actually went to practice.

I Thought I Wanted Football Until Football Started 😂

I'm not going to make myself sound tougher than I was.

That first practice was brutal.

My legs hurt. My body hurt. Everything hurt.

But my feet?

My feet were killing me.

I had brand-new football cleats, so I didn't understand what was happening. They were new, so in my mind they were supposed to be good.

I figured maybe this was just football.

By the end of practice, the same kid who had begged his parents to let him play was telling his dad:

One practice and I was already ready for retirement. 😂

But somehow the next day I went back.

And it was worse.

My feet were hurting so bad that my dad could tell something wasn't right.

That's when he talked to Gutz Rodriguez, “Coach Gil.”

“Don't Quit, Mario.”

Coach Gil didn't just tell me to toughen up.

He actually tried to figure out what was wrong.

He looked at my feet, listened to what I was telling him and then said something I still remember:

I'm going to be real.

The part I didn't like was “we'll see you tomorrow.” 😂

I was hoping for something more like, “Take a week off, Mario.”

Nope.

My dad and I got in the car and started the drive home.

Then My Dad Stopped at OXXO

At that time we were living around La Misión in Valle de Ensenada, so getting home from practice was about an hour drive.

My dad knew I was hurting.

Then he pulled into OXXO.

For my American friends, think of OXXO kind of like a Mexican 7-Eleven.

My dad went inside and came back with three bags of ice.

I thought, damn, we having a carne asada or what? 😂

Three bags of ice made sense to me.

Maybe some sodas.

Maybe some beers.

I didn't know.

What I definitely didn't know was that the ice was for me.

Does This Man Think I'm a Penguin?

We got home and my dad started filling the bathtub.

Then he dumped the ice in.

I'm watching him thinking:

What is this guy doing?

Then he calls me upstairs.

“¡Mario! ¡Ven arriba!”

I looked at him.

I looked at the bathtub.

Then I looked back at him.

Does this man think I'm a penguin?

I put one foot in that water and pulled it right back out.

No way, José. 😂

I was yelling. I was mad. I'm pretty sure I cried too.

My dad got me in there anyway.

Cold water. Warmer water. Back again.

Today I know athletes sometimes use cold-water immersion after hard training because it can temporarily help with perceived muscle soreness.

Little Mario didn't know any of that.

Little Mario called it torture. 😂

My Mom Thought My Dad Was Crazy Too

My mom's face might have been the funniest part.

Remember, this was already the same man who signed me up for football behind her back.

Now she sees her son freezing in a bathtub.

She was looking at my dad like:

What are you doing to my niño?

He wasn't exactly helping his case. 😂

Wait... It Actually Worked?

A few hours later I got up for dinner.

Something was different.

I wasn't hurting as much.

My dad asked me how I felt.

I said:

“The same.”

That was a lie. 😂

I was still mad at him and there was no way I was going to let him know he might have been right.

The next morning I couldn't hide it anymore.

I felt way better.

So I finally told him:

“Thanks, papi. It doesn't hurt that much anymore.”

Of course my dad couldn't just accept the thank you.

He looked at me and said:

Then Coach Gil Gave Me His Son's Old Cleats

When I got back to practice, Coach Gil called me over.

But before I tell you what he had for me, there's something you need to know.

Before I was Torta Power, I was IHOP. 😂

That's what Coach Gil used to call me.

IHOP.

I guess pancakes were following me before I even knew what a pancake block was.

Coach had a bag with him.

He reached inside and pulled out a pair of football cleats.

They weren't new.

They weren't the latest model.

They were his son's old cleats.

They were a little bigger than mine and already broken in.

Coach told me to try them.

So I put them on.

I practiced.

Practice ended.

And guess what?

I Almost Quit Football Because of the Wrong Cleats

That's what the problem was.

My brand-new cleats weren't right for my feet.

Coach Gil's son's old, already broken-in cleats worked better.

Think about that.

I thought football was the problem.

Football wasn't the problem.

My cleats were.

What if my dad had just let me quit?

What if Coach Gil hadn't listened?

What if he never brought those cleats?

Maybe football becomes something I tried for two days in Mexico.

Maybe there is no Torta Power.

From Coach Gil's Used Cleats to the Nike Alpha Menace Strong I Wear Today

That's probably why I'm a little more serious about football cleats today than people realize.

I learned really young that the newest pair or the coolest-looking pair isn't automatically the right pair.

Fit matters. Comfort matters.

Especially when you're an offensive lineman putting your weight and power into the ground over and over again.

Funny enough, after almost quitting football because of the wrong cleats, people now ask me what cleats I wear.

Right now one of the models I wear is the Nike Alpha Menace Strong Men's Football Cleats. I have them in different colorways, including black/metallic silver/white and white/University Red/Dark Smoke Grey/black.

Nike Alpha Menace Strong Men's Football Cleats

White / University Red / Dark Smoke Grey / Black

This is one of the Alpha Menace Strong colorways I wear. Click the cleat or the button below to see the current price, available sizes and availability on Amazon.

Check Current Price on Amazon

See the White & Red Pair on Amazon →

Nike Alpha Menace Strong Men's Football Cleats

Black / Metallic Silver / White

This is the black Alpha Menace Strong colorway I wear. Click the cleat or button below to check the current Amazon price, available sizes and availability.

Check Current Price on Amazon

See the Black Pair on Amazon →

But remember the whole point of this story: don't buy a pair of football cleats just because I wear them or another player wears them.

What works for my feet might not work for yours. Your foot shape, size, position, playing surface and how the cleat actually feels all matter.

Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases made through eligible links on this page, at no additional cost to you. Product prices, sizes and availability can change, so check Amazon for current information.

What Coach Gil Really Taught Me

This story isn't really about which Nike cleats I wear now.

It's about what Coach Gil did back then.

He didn't give me some giant motivational speech.

He didn't tell me I was going to become a star.

He didn't know where football was going to take me.

He just saw a kid who was hurting and wanted to quit.

He listened.

He tried to figure out the problem.

He helped fix it.

Then he expected me back at practice.

My Parents Were Learning Football With Me

I appreciate my parents a lot more when I look back at this story too.

We weren't one of those football families where Dad played college football and started training his son when he was five years old.

We were all figuring it out together.

My dad didn't know exactly why my feet hurt. He just knew his kid was hurting and tried to help.

Coach Gil knew football and noticed something else might be wrong.

And my mom was probably ready to fight both of them if I came home hurt. 😂

When you're a kid, sometimes you think your parents are crazy.

That night I definitely thought my dad was crazy.

Now I understand he was trying to do the best thing he knew how to do for me.

Before Torta Power, I Was IHOP 😂

This might be my favorite part of the whole story.

Coach Gil called me IHOP.

Years later, pancake blocks became part of my identity as an offensive lineman.

Except I'm Mexican.

So eventually I started thinking:

Why are we calling them pancakes?

Let's make Tortas. 😂

A pancake became a Torta.

And eventually Mario Luna became Torta Power.

You can read the full story behind the name in What Is Torta Power? .

That's why it's so funny to me that years before Torta Power existed, Coach Gil was already calling me IHOP.

I was IHOP before I was Torta Power. 😂

Maybe Coach knew something we didn't.

From Rosarito Rangers to Orange Lutheran

A lot happened after those first practices in Mexico.

I kept playing football in Baja California, kept learning the game and eventually my football journey brought me to the United States.

You can read more about that part of the story in From Mexico to Orange Lutheran .

Eventually I earned the opportunity to play varsity offensive line at Orange Lutheran High School.

You can see more of that development in my freshman varsity highlights at Orange Lutheran .

My journey from Baja California to Orange Lutheran was also part of the story I wrote about after being featured by the LA Times: Mario Luna “Torta Power” Featured by the LA Times .

Sometimes I look at everything that's happened and remember:

I almost didn't make it past those first practices.

One Day I Want to Give Cleats to Kids in Mexico

This is probably the part of the story that means the most to me.

One day I want to give football cleats to kids in Mexico in honor of Gutz Rodriguez “Coach Gil.”

I want to help kids who love football but maybe don't have the right equipment or whose families can't just go buy another pair of cleats when the first ones don't fit.

Because now I understand what one pair of cleats can mean.

To somebody else, Coach Gil giving me his son's old cleats might sound like a small thing.

To me?

Those cleats helped keep me playing football.

Maybe one day there's another gordito somewhere in Baja California who goes home after practice and tells his dad:

“I quit.”

Maybe his feet hurt.

Maybe football feels impossible.

Maybe his family doesn't understand the sport either.

Maybe what that kid needs isn't somebody yelling at him to be tougher.

Maybe somebody needs to listen.

Maybe he needs the right pair of cleats.

Or maybe he just needs his own Coach Gil to tell him:

Before Orange Lutheran, There Was Rosarito

Before Orange Lutheran.

Before varsity football.

Before recruiting.

Before the highlights.

Before the Tortas.

Before the Torta Power corrido .

And before anybody knew Mario Luna as Torta Power...

There was just a kid playing for the Rosarito Rangers in OEFA Baja California who wanted to quit football almost as soon as he started.

Three bags of OXXO ice.

One worried Mexican mom.

A dad who apparently thought his son was a penguin.

A coach named Gutz Rodriguez “Coach Gil.”

And a pair of his son's old football cleats.

I went back.

And I'm still playing.

About Mario Luna “Torta Power”

Mario Luna “Torta Power” is a Class of 2029 offensive lineman at Orange Lutheran High School whose football journey began in Baja California, Mexico.

Mario began playing youth football in Mexico before continuing his development in the United States and earning varsity experience at Orange Lutheran.

The Torta Power identity connects Mario's Mexican roots with offensive-line football. Where football players traditionally call a dominant knockdown block a “pancake,” Mario calls it a Torta.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where did Mario Luna “Torta Power” start playing football?

Mario Luna started playing organized American football in Baja California, Mexico, including with the Rosarito Rangers in Rosarito.

Who is Gutz Rodriguez “Coach Gil”?

Gutz Rodriguez, known to Mario as “Coach Gil,” was one of Mario's early football coaches with the Rosarito Rangers. Mario credits him with encouraging him not to quit and helping figure out that the cleats Mario was wearing were contributing to his foot pain.

Why did Mario Luna almost quit football?

Mario experienced significant soreness and foot pain during his first football practices in Mexico. He initially thought football itself was the problem, but changing to a larger, already broken-in pair of used cleats made a major difference.

Why did Coach Gil call Mario Luna “IHOP”?

Coach Gil jokingly called young Mario “IHOP” years before Mario became known as Torta Power and before offensive-line pancake blocks became part of his football identity.

What football cleats does Mario Luna wear?

Mario wears the Nike Alpha Menace Strong Men's Football Cleats, including black/metallic silver/white and white/University Red/Dark Smoke Grey/black colorways.

You can see Mario's black Nike Alpha Menace Strong cleats on Amazon or see the white and red colorway on Amazon .

What does Torta Power mean?

Torta Power is Mario Luna's Mexican-American spin on the offensive-line “pancake” block. Instead of calling his dominant blocks pancakes, Mario calls them Tortas.

What does Mario want to do in Coach Gil's honor?

Mario hopes to eventually give football cleats to young players in Mexico in Coach Gil's honor, connecting the idea directly to the used cleats that helped keep Mario playing football when he was young.