Central football's revival starts with QB Dominik Bagchi, who was told he wouldn't make it

Dominik Bagchi's motivation comes from everywhere, in different places, various forms.

From his father making him the third-string quarterback on one of his early youth teams. From being told he was too small to play the position. From a barber shop's chair. From transferring to a Phoenix Union High School District school to play football.

After leaving Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep during his freshman year and transferring to Central, Bagchi was at a barber shop, having his hair cut next to a kid his age, a high school football player from the inner city who played at one of the bigger football programs in the Valley.

They started talking about football. Bagchi asked what school he attended. Then, a family friend who was there, let the kid know that Bagchi was a quarterback who just transferred to Phoenix Central.

"The kid immediately said, without even thinking, 'Oh, they trash,' " said Dave Bagchi, Domnik's dad. "My friend sent me a text and said, 'Dave, your son just looked at him and gave him the most wicked smile.' "

Dave, who runs the youth football program Team Impact in the Valley, said his son's story was written 12 years ago.

"There are dudes out there in the Arizona high school scene who don't want to see this kid succeed," Dave said.

Bagchi, with his band of brothers at Central High, a melting pot of cultures, most of whom have faced adversity and naysayers themselves, is proving everybody wrong.

After being ineligible during the three-game PXU, COVID-19 season in 2020 his sophomore year, Bagchi has led a school that was the regular laughingstock on Friday nights to a program on the rise, one to be reckoned with, behind a fearless leader who welcomes the doubters to keep fueling his fire.

Central is 8-3 with Bagchi the starting quarterback, 3-1 this season. Before he took control of the offense, the Bobcats had gone 5-18.

He ranks first in 5A in passing yardage with 1,113, according to MaxPreps. No. 2 is Notre Dame junior Noah Trigueros at 1,088 yards in four games.

Bonded by more than football

At Central, everybody can relate. Most everybody has a story. Something that adversely impacted their lives. Something that drew everybody together to form this close bond that becomes unbreakable on Friday nights.

Senior wide receiver/cornerback Quintin Conley lost his younger brother Quortez on May 14, 2021 when 14-year-old Quortez was stabbed to death at a Valley Metro light rail station near the school.

Senior cornerback/receiver/kicker Izzy Foz found Central's football team to be the home he longed for after moving from Africa three years ago. Speaking six languages and living in a foster home, head coach Chandler Hovik took him into his home and is in the process of becoming his legal guardian.

"I'm happy to see how we're changing the program," Foz said. "How we score. The offense steps up. The defense steps up. Everybody is stepping up.

"I wasn't going to play football. But I've got a good family right here."

Bagchi has grown into the leader, after sorting his way through his sophomore year. He has a 4.3 grade-point average, finding a balance at home from his mother and father and two youngers siblings, a brother and a sister. His mother, Renny, is from India. His father's parents came to America from India just before Dave was born in New Jersey.

Notre Dame Prep and Central High School are two different worlds. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound Bagchi appreciates what he gained from both environments.

"Central High School and Notre Dame Prep obviously are very different," Bagchi said. "Part of this is because of prior experiences, and prior knowledge that I had.

"I was able to cope with and be successful in both environments."

He credits his family, his upbringing, a combination of tender love and hard lessons.

In December of 2019, during his freshman year, Dominik went to India with his family. It was a life changing.

Bagchi got to see his family's history.

"You learn a lot about your family that you didn't know before," he said. "A good portion of the trip we spent with my mom's side of the family. It was cool to see all of this and and their different experiences living in India as opposed to my experiences living in the U.S."

His dad is driven in daily life, wanting to see all of his kids succeed, not just fueling Dominik's drive to show everybody wrong in football. He pushes the football envelope, the PR side, while making sure Dom is staying on top of his chores at home and helping his younger brother and sister with whatever they need in school.

Mom is there for things such as how he's coping, the family, grades, future in life.

"She kind of jokes that she's the balance, because she doesn't get into the football all that much, and he gets into it a lot," Dominik said. "It's a perfect balance. I'm grateful for both of them, the whole family."

Dave Bagchi said that in India education was prioritized over arts and sports. 

"It's like, 'Look, sports is just a hobby, the most important thing is the grades,' " David said. "If you go to India, you're going to find people who played sports and pushed their kids in sports. It's different now than back then."

Dave was molded through seeing his father's own tragic circumstances, a London University-educated man suffering a heart attack when Dave was 17 and becoming paralyzed from a fall during the attack, watching his mother take care of him until he died at age 58.

Watching his father's deterioration fueled Dave.

"I think to myself, 'This gentlemen is one of the most educated and accomplished people in the world,' " Dave said. "By the time he passed away, he was literally John Nash from (the movie) 'Beautiful Mind.' He was not coherent. I remember one time a police officer pulled him aside and I was in the car. Pulled him aside for driving too slow. My father couldn't make words. My father started mumbling. The cop thought he was crazy and decided to let us go.

"All of this stuff burns at me. It makes me feel like, 'If he just stood up for himself.' But he couldn't. What I'm trying to preach to my kids is, 'You can. You can stand up for yourself.' "

'I just wanted to drift away'

Hovik calls Central "a big melting pot."

"They come from different lifestyles, and they make it work," he said. "Because of the work they put in together, they respect each other because of that.

"If you step up and lead, these guys are going to follow you."

Conley feels Bagchi has been the perfect leader after his life took a tragic turn when he lost his brother.

"They've done a lot for me," Conley said. "When my brother passed, I just wanted to drift away from a lot of things in life. Coach Hovik and the coaching staff made me feel at home. I really enjoy it here. These are my brothers. We really have a good camaraderie. I'm thankful for them.

"We all have a good connection."

Conley uses his brother's death as motivation on and off the field.

"Ever since then, my eyes opened up to the world," he said. "I see things completely different."

Bagchi never shrunk from the people who told him nobody would know who he was by the time he was a senior in high school, that he would face along  the sideline as a backup.

This is stuff his dad would hear. Now he's getting the last word.

"There was a parent who made a comment around my wife, who said, 'Oh, he went to Central, good, you'll never hear about him again,' " Dave Bagchi said. "I wrote a text to the wife's husband, who is a coach. I said, 'I promise you in two years my son at Central will get more media attention than your school.' "

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Central football's melting pot of cultures starts with QB Bagchi