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Lots of changes in the coaching ranks, thread 2

Dave Keefer

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Jul 4, 2001
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Tidbits from Eric Sondheimer, LA Times:

Former Rams players Austin Pettis and Todd Lyght have been named the offensive and defensive coordinators at Orange Lutheran. Aaron Corp, last year’s offensive coordinator, has moved out of state, according to the Orange County Register.

Last Friday afternoon Mater Dei announced it had dismissed Frank McManus after just one season as head coach.

There was no reason given by Mater Dei for the coaching change. It sure wasn’t because of wins and losses. In his only season as head coach after serving for 16 years as an assistant, McManus guided Mater Dei to the Southern Section Division 1 title and state Open Division title.

Mater Dei officials watched over him closely after he took over for the controversial Rollinson. He declined to give out his phone number to media. Any interviews with him had to be set up through the school. He had received a strong endorsement from school president Michael Brennan when he was hired.

Here’s a report on the decision. The school is expected to swiftly name a replacement since spring football practice will soon begin.
 
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Mater Dei failed to name a new head football coach last week, which means the candidate list could be expanding. Raul Lara had been considered the favorite but no longer.

Jason Miller is leaving Bellflower High to become football coach at his alma mater, Leuzinger.
 
Here's one close to my heart, Billy Cardosi has stepped down as coach of Fontana Kaiser
Any reason why he stepped down? He's had a good record and it seems late in the school year. Also, earlier this month he was looking for a game to add to the schedule so it didn't seem he was thinking of retiring then.
 
The big news of the week was Raul Lara being named head coach at Mater Dei. He had been running the program at St. Anthony. He won five Division 1 titles as Long Beach Poly, so he knows Division 1 football.

Frank Rice, who was an assistant football coach at Leuzinger, is the new head coach at Washington Prep.
 
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Rory Schoonmaker is leaving Santa Ana High after one season as football coach to become head coach at El Segundo, which is closer to his home in Redondo Beach.

Former defensive coordinator Adam Leonard has been named interim football coach at Warren, replacing Kevin Pearson.
 
Jeff Magdaleno is the new football coach at St. Anthony, replacing Raul Lara, who left for Mater Dei. He has been an assistant at the University of La Verne and was a defensive analyst at Nevada.

Garden Grove has named Matthew LemMon as its football coach.
 
Nate Turner has resigned as football coach at San Marino.

Former Mater Dei defensive coordinator Eric Johnson has joined the football staff at Marina.
 
Former Windward coach Hasan Muhammad is the new head coach at Beverly Hills.

Former Burbank coach Adam Colman has joined the staff at Buena as an assistant coach.

Westlake first-year football coach Jesse Craven said Sunday he has resigned. He was hired from Burbank Burroughs last December. Craven said he decided to step down after differences with the administration. He follows Jim Benkert, Tony Henney, Tim Kirksey and Mark Serve in what has become a revolving door of coaches since Benkert left after the 2014 season and was there for 26 seasons.

Former Taft football coach Fred Emmerson is the new coach at Savanna High in Anaheim.

Former Channel Islands star Jeremiah Valoaga is the new football coach at his alma mater.
 
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Carnell Henderson is the new football coach at Westlake after the resignation of Jesse Craven without ever coaching a game. Henderson is the school’s athletic director and a former college player.

Former Servite and Crespi football coach Troy Thomas has become the defensive coordinator at Edison.
 
Our best wishes go out to Rancho Cucamonga head coach Brian Hildebrand who sent out this post on X:




Brian Hildebrand
@BHildebrandRCHS
Jul 8

The past 7 months I’ve been dealing with some difficult medical conditions. Turns out I have a neurological disorder that has caused additional issues. I’ve taken some time from football to address my health. Thanks to everyone that has reached out and RCHS for all the support!
 
Last Friday afternoon Mater Dei announced it had dismissed Frank McManus after just one season as head coach.

There was no reason given by Mater Dei for the coaching change. It sure wasn’t because of wins and losses. In his only season as head coach after serving for 16 years as an assistant, McManus guided Mater Dei to the Southern Section Division 1 title and state Open Division title.

Mater Dei officials watched over him closely after he took over for the controversial Rollinson. He declined to give out his phone number to media. Any interviews with him had to be set up through the school. He had received a strong endorsement from school president Michael Brennan when he was hired.

Here’s a report on the decision. The school is expected to swiftly name a replacement since spring football practice will soon begin.

Former Mater Dei coach Frank McManus will be an assistant this season at Golden West College, per head coach Nick Mitchell
 
Just saw Matt Bechtel resigned at La Verne Damien.
The school announced he stepped down for health reasons. It comes after a Damien player started a fight last month at the Mission Viejo passing tournament. Assistant James Stewart will be the interim coach.
 
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Hamilton has hired former Carson, L.A. Jordan, Compton and St. Paul coach Elijah Asante, who came out of retirement.
 
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Our best wishes go out to Rancho Cucamonga head coach Brian Hildebrand who sent out this post on X:


Brian Hildebrand
@BHildebrandRCHS
Jul 8

The past 7 months I’ve been dealing with some difficult medical conditions. Turns out I have a neurological disorder that has caused additional issues. I’ve taken some time from football to address my health. Thanks to everyone that has reached out and RCHS for all the support!
Brian Hildebrand of Rancho Cucamonga has now officially stepped down as football coach because of his health issues.
 
Damien now Rancho losing head coaches so close to the season.
Both schools I think were looking to have good seasons.
I bet the beat goes on at Rancho.
 
with the season 3 weeks out...
Any word on his replacement ?
The school principal said interviews begin this week. Also, in a positive note, Hildebrand said he hopes to return to coaching in the future. His main reason he seemed to give for stepping down was because his therapy and testing requirements was taking up too much time and he didn't feel he could coach as effectively as he wanted. So maybe his health issues are such that they can be be solved, just my thoughts (and hope).

And I agree doc, Rancho appears poised to have a good year even under the circumstances discussed.
 
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The school principal said interviews begin this week. Also, in a positive note, Hildebrand said he hopes to return to coaching in the future. His main reason he seemed to give for stepping down was because his therapy and testing requirements was taking up too much time and he didn't feel he could coach as effectively as he wanted. So maybe his health issues are such that they can be be solved, just my thoughts (and hope).
Ofa Fifita has been named head coach.
 
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Former Mater Dei coach Frank McManus has joined the coaching staff at Mission Viejo.
 
Doug Case, the football coach at Foothill for 25 years, announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season.
 
Long Beach Jordan football coach Jon Nielsen has taken a leave of absence from the program.
 
Santa Margarita coach Anthony Rouzier has been placed on administrative leave while an investigation takes place “concerning incidents within the football program,” according to a statement sent to The LA Times by school president Andy Sulick.

According to the statement, “The safety and well-being of our students remains our top priority. We are taking this matter seriously and conducting a comprehensive review to ensure a timely and proper resolution. Santa Margarita Catholic High School is fully cooperating with the appropriate authorities. In order to preserve the integrity of the investigation and respect the privacy of all parties involved, we are unable to provide additional details.”

Defensive coordinator Steve Fifita will be the interim coach.
 
I guess this might go under the category of "coaching changes":

Woodbridge football coach Aaron Craver has been suspended for the remainder of the season for violating a Southern Section rule when his team did not complete a game against Oxnard Pacifica on Oct. 11.

Another sidenote concerning our bud from years past:

Former St. Bonaventure football coach Jon Mack has been named the school’s Athletics Collegiate Recruiting Coordinator. He’ll be helping the school’s athletes in the college recruiting process.
 
Casey Clausen resigns after seven years as HC at Bishop Alemany. The Warriors lost their first-round Southern Section Division 9 playoff game to Sonora on Thursday night, ending their season at 5-6.
 
Richard Salazar has resigned as football coach at Fullerton.

Keith Miller is the new football coach at Bellflower. He was an assistant when his brother, Jason, was head coach last season and helped coach flag football this season.
 
Baiz out at Etiwanda.
Lakeside also changing directions at HC.
Westlake job is open after finishing with an interim coach.
eightlaces.org
 
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Shane Gonzales has resigned after four seasons as football coach at Long Beach Cabrillo.

LaRon Johnson has resigned after one season as football coach at Burbank Burroughs.
 
Lorenzo Hernandez announced Friday he is stepping down as football coach at Garfield High after 24 years.

Andrew Patterson is out as football coach at Marshall.

Aaron Huerta has resigned after five years as football coach at Harvard-Westlake.

Kevin Oberlander has resigned as football coach at Sonora.

The interim title has been removed from James Stewart, who has been named football coach at Damien.

Chris Varner has resigned as football coach at West Ranch.

Jason Sabolic has resigned as football coach at El Camino Real under pressure. He said he was exhausted after more than two years of dealing with field issues that still haven’t been completely fixed.

The school also wanted to go in a different direction. Sabolic said he will get his administrative credential and switch his focus. “I have a new calling to be an amazing administrator for people who work their butts off,” he said.
 
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