His past two seasons were back as a disciple of the Saints' thriving culture of success under the tutelage of Kevin Braswell.
While he has been riding the wave of excitement in taking command on the quarterdeck of the Hawks' ship, Coronel also tempers his overriding emotion with a sense of servility in what the responsibility entails.
"I think you have to have the humility to be collaborative with them so you listen to them and they learn from you and you learn from them as well," he says, throwing in names such as Pero Cameron, Dillon Boucher, Corey Webster, Lindsay Tait and Casey Frank.
"I could go on [with names] so you learn a heck of a lot about basketball from your association with those types of players."
The health and PE teacher at Rongotai College in Wellington has bided his time and, in case anyone wonders, yes, he did often ponder when his time was going to come to assume the mantle of head coach five years into his apprenticeship.
He reflects on his first three years, which he considers the baby-step phase, when many feel they are ready to make the step up but, in hindsight, he believes a longer apprenticeship is better.
A stark reality hits in learning something new. In terms of having graduated with an A+ pass, Coronel can't think of a tougher script then last season when the Saints lifted the title with an unblemished record from the 18-game competition.
"It was 20 and O and some people debate it but we make the case that we had no imports," he says, relishing the opportunity to be a part of a management, coaching stable and squad to clinch the Wellington franchise's 10th NBL crown.
Coming off that sort of accolade as an assistant coach, Coronel feels it's pointless fighting the desire and inspiration to reach for higher echelons.
He was pretty confident of getting the nod from the Hawks board.
Having built a solid reputation with coaches, players and teams in the NBL arena, he had a sense of self-assurance his attention to detail, diligence and a succession of wins during his tenure warranted a stint.
"I was reasonably confident that Hawke's Bay have seen that and are increasingly becoming aware of my contributions."
Coronel will be the first to lend credence to speculation that assistant coaches tend to blend into the backdrop of a season with fans unsure of what their input was.
He says players involved in soul-searching locker-room meetings have been vouching for his contributions.
"The nature of being a team is that you all support each other because when you achieve your goals you help others achieve their goals," he says, revealing the Saints players were mindful of his aspirations.
He juxtaposes his thrill with that of Webster who is on the verge of boarding a flight to Israel to compete in a league the shooting guard has never competed in before.
"Maybe I played a .001 per cent part in helping him achieve that because you've always wanted him to succeed."
That's what he is bringing to Hawke's Bay to help fuel the desire to establish a culture which will be mutually beneficial for all.
Whether it launches the prospective Hawks to another altitude in the NBL or propels them into the equation of Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare the drive will be there for a collective family to accomplish those goals.
It's not lost on Coronel that the Hawks, who claimed their only NBL title in 2006, have a proud history of making the playoffs but that hasn't materialised in the past few seasons.
The Jarrod Kenny and Everard Bartlett co-skippered Hawks avoided consecutive wooden spoons to finish fifth on the NBL standings with four victories in June following a winless winter of despair under former coach Kirstin Daly-Taylor last year.
A frustrated Daly-Taylor stepped down suddenly in April with franchise board member and former Tall Black Benny Hill assuming the mantle of caretaker coach and enlisting the help of assistants Clifton Bush II and Kaine Hokianga.
He casts his mind back to not long after the turn of the century when the Hawks' most successful mentor, Shawn Dennis, had established a fortress mentality at the PG Arena.
During the Australian's reign, which yielded the NBL title, Coronel was a rookie assistant and recalls how the Hawks would have won their first crown had the buzzer not beaten retired Paora Winitana to the rim in 2005.
"It was one of the toughest places to go to play and you'd be pretty happy when you came out of there with a win because you've achieved something by going to the PG Arena and that didn't always happen."
On the foundation of such a reputation Coronel believes the Bay franchise can again be the best in the country again with board chairman Keith Price and general manager Kevin Wagg at the helm.
With all the ingredients there, he says the mission is to nut out a good recipe to emulate other Hawks teams well into the 1990s as well as those who agonisingly made playoffs but fell shy in the past two decades.
"They have won just one championship but with a little bit of luck they could have had four even though that hasn't been the case in the previous two years or so."
To walk in the shadows of illustrious mentors was quite illuminating in enhancing his portfolio as many were accomplished players.
Conversely, Coronel was able to reciprocate as a savvy assistant especially to head coaches who were making their debuts in the NBL.
"I've probably been one of the more prominent assistant coaches speaking to the players taking a lead role in practices and in New Zealand age-group and high school teams and things like that.
"In some ways it's been the best of both worlds getting to learn and working alongside so many great people as well as implementing my own ideas and having those dual development pathways."
In his coaching philosophy, culture will always be paramount where signing people with desirable attributes is imperative.
Establishing a grading system that is transparent for everyone from players to the franchise understanding what the pillars are for the Hawks to perform their roles.
"I think you have to be willing to tell each other the truth even when it's not always fun to hear someone's true reflection on what you need to improve on but it's necessary."
That extends to creating high expectations for players because they are capable. Ignoring that will be doing a disservice.
"In terms of the way I coach, I think you want to be respectful of players," he says, believing the players offer a pool of talent and the objective is to tap into that knowledge to edify them.
"The game is primarily for them because they spend all the time on the floor and they are the ones who play through the niggles so I really want to support them."
When shots don't drop and moves fail to gather momentum he wants players to know it's okay because the coach still has complete faith in them.
That faith is a given in a "family" network where everyone watches each other's backs.
"That's how good players learn. You learn by making mistakes, like babies learning to talk in picking up a language," he says, sympathising with how hard it must be for adults to pick up a second language.
Adopting that sort of attitude towards learning and improvement then the Hawks will grow as players and as a team.
Coronel, with his teaching commitments until the end of this year, will communicate via technology with players in between a couple of visits.
With no family commitments, he intends to settle in Napier and understands his tenure will go beyond a year if the franchise is to realise a highway project.
With his knowledge of most players in the NBL scene, he will go through the selection process to find the right mix for a pleasurable team.
That will be his stance on sounding out assistant coaches and support staff.
"I want to have really high calibre of assistants so that's really an important factor in building a team."
