Who’s your pick for Coach of the Year?
December 4th, 2008, 9:57 am · · posted by Steve Fryer
We received nominations for 22 coaches, and the top half in terms of support are included on the list below.
We’ll continue voting for this round until Monday at noon. You’re welcome to return to vote for more than one candidate, but please avoid blatant ballot-box stuffing for one coach.
And please use the comments field below to leave your positive comments about the coaches under consideration. There’s no need to be negative, and anything attacking a coach will be deleted.
Related posts:
Related videos:
Reader Comments
Comments are encouraged, but you must follow our User Agreement.- Keep it civil and stay on topic.
- No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks.
- People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.
Comments Closed
-
-
LATEST SLIDE SHOWS
LATEST OCVARSITY VIDEOS
Media Partners :
KOCE |
MSNBC |
OCExcelsior |
Home Magazine |
Coast Magazine |
Preferred Destinations Magazine |
KPCC |
KMEX |
NguoiViet |
RSS Feed 
|
Contact us |
Privacy policy |
User agreement |
Corrections |
Career opportunities |
Advertise with us |
About us|
Archives |
Homes
Cars |
Jobs |
OC Single Scene |
California Lottery |
Register Insiders |
Register in Education |
Buy our Photos |
Feedback |
Local Businesses |
OC H.S. Sports
John Ship- 4 weeks in a row with tough games and he went 2-2 but the too losses were by 3 and 7.
Espy- 17-14L
NPH-22-21W
Los Al-21-14W
EDH-14-7L
Pretty impressive for not getting any credit before the season, and was picked to finish 5th. He gets my vote.
Who didn’t Barnes beat? His father’s team, FV (sorry e, you forgot about that one), Mater Dei, San Clemente, Mission Viejo, etc. An undefeated season and against great competition. Easy choice.
mazzotta goes 13-0 moves up a div and is 10-2 so far play 2 down to the wire games against pac 5 consistent powers, wins 100 games, and on the verge of another back to back, all in the northern most part of the o c with home grown kids that work their butts off like a div 1 college program, because they all believe what MO says about winning in football and life in general BEST YOUNG MAN I HAVE EVER BEEN AROUND ,even adults that listen to him cant help but be successfull in life.
Sorry,
Shipp gets lucky to win 3 sunset games….last minute 1 man show run vs. Newport….OT win vs. Los Al …Evans got hurt and they missed FG’s…Lost to arch rival Edison…Scored 14 vs espy, 7 versus edison, 14 in regualtion versus los al….With the guys he had this year he should have ran the table in league. Horriblle offense (as usual) great Defense….Shipp isn’t the D guy he’s the O guy, and because of one player on offense they got the wins…It wasn’t the coach!!! My vote is Barnes Jr.
Coach Kunau is there every year in the toughest conference in the state. Semifinals again with an inexperienced offense and a first year QB. They will probably not end up with any skill players on the all CIF team. Defense is strong but probably no D1 prospects in the front 7.
If not for a fumble on the goal line in last years semi, against the eventual Pac 5 champion, LB Poly, we would be talking about back to back state championships. Not to mention a strong chance for this years title. Remember all of this with a dramatic change in top assistant coaches over the last 2 years.
Barnes returned a nucleus of players and had arguably one of the best linebackers in the state transfer in with John Michael Davis. I must say how good would they have been this year if he did not transfer out of Lutheran as a freshman. I would like to see Tesoro’s record if they played in the Trinity league every year.
Coach Kunau is the reason for the teams success and shoud be rewarded.
coach of the year should not be based on wins and loses alone but on the whole pakage. Coach MO does it year in and year out with kids that walk on campus because thats where thy belong, and their parents cant afford aprivate school even if a scholar ship was offered.give it to a guy who does a great job with what he has not with what hes givin
From a current Lancer to an ex lancer. It seems to always come down to scholarships and privelege without speaking about hard work and character. Those are the real Lancer traits.
Beating people 83-0 does not strike me as the way someone speaks to having the entire package. Unless humiliating your opponent is part of the package. Regardless of the spin you have to try hard to score that many points. It is something the Lancers have never done, or ever will do to an opponent.
So I suppose La Habra should have tried harder to not score points? If that’s the case, then our players should have just walked back to the locker room and left their opponet Anaheim to play eachother. They should never have been in the playoffs to begin with. No need for Coach Mazzota to explain his actions over and over. Not even the Anaheim coach is complaining so why are you? Never say ever.
exlancer/clan dad:
Please note that of the eleven coaches listed, NINE coach at public schools. In other words, each of these fine coaches have teams that consist of local kids that live within the schools’ boundaries, as established by the relevant school district. La Habra is not alone in being restricted to “home grown” talent. Please don’t assume that only La Habra parents apparently can’t afford private schooling for their children!
I’m sure Mr. Mazotta is a fine coach (like each of the nominated coaches), but please remember that each of the coaches at the public schools are “coaching what they are given.” Tesoro’s boundaries are bordered by the areas serving two very good football programs (Mission Viejo and Trabuco Hills), yet Tesoro still goes undefeated. It’s not money! With that, Brian Barnes is hands down the coach of the year.
Remember though, there is always funny business going on when it comes to where kids go to high school. I’m not saying a lot of families do this, but you know, giving an aunt’s address, or an address of a motel in a certain district, and so on…….
Also, remember, public schools get transfer students too. Let’s remember it’s not about transfers and recruits. You still have to coach a kid. You can have the best players, but not always succeed. Ask the New York Yankees how that turns out.
Barnes is the Coach of 2008, now let’s move on!
How could it be anyone but Barnes Jr? Anyone ever seen a program advance as quickly as Tesoro has over the last three years? Put them in the Trinity league, Moore league, whatever and watch Barnes rise to the challenge.
Who won it last year? Was it Barnes or Fenton? I’m not sure but they generally don’t like giving the award out to the same person back to back.
As much as I dislike the man, the OLU coaching staff has done an amazing job this year. Yeah it’s a little bit of homer in me, but if you look at the player of the year awards, Tesoro has 2 players there, and Lutheran has 0. To be able to compete at this level without the true superstars they’ve had in the past is simply phenomenal. Also even though I don’t like the 83-0 scores, Mazzota always does an excellent job, and if he hasn’t gotten the award before he deserves it for body of work if he wins CIF.
I voted twice. for barnes and for ingalls. Lets be honest barnes has made tesoro a powerhouse. But I like what Bruce Ingalls does with the few athletes he has at Laguna. I believe they only get about 1,700 kids. I watched them at the Artesia game. There great kids who have worked hard. I remember them being 0-20 over 3 seasons before finally winning. Its been a great small school program since then. GO LANCERS!
jivec
I’m with you. OLu has a class act all the way. Clean ball. Not many teams can say that.
Coach Kunau because consistancy counts. They are no flash in the pan.
Of course my first choice would have been Dave White.
Stuff happens.
Barnes of Tesoro is the best of the best. He knows his players and how to get them to give the best they have. Ask the players and they will tell you how much respect they have for this man! If you look at the stats you will see his clean, good sportsmanship coaching. He’s come a long way in a short time and the kids love him.
My vote is for Hitchens, not only because he is my coach, but he stepped in and coached a team that went 4-5 last year to the semifinals this year. That is a good job.
coach Hitchens is a great coach who really brought this team around.
Nicely said “1234″
Hooray for CdM and thank you Coach HItchens for bringing up the Sea King pride!
Coach hitchens had to work this year with a team that was 4-5 last year and only 8 seniors that played both sides of the ball. Doesnt matter if we arent in the bst division but if you can come in to a coaching spot and turn a program around in one year and win 10 gaames and make it to the semifinals for the first time since 95′ u gotta give it to that coach. Your talkin bout a school that has a very samll population and doesnt have the variety that some of these big schools have. I think it should go to a first year coach, that had to work with a disadvantage of already half way behind through off season, had only 8 seniors and has already made it tot eh semis.
Got to be Coach Barnes from Tesoro!!
i would like to see ingalls win it but im going to hands down say brian barnes. he has done an excellent job at tesoro, especially with the league he’s in and the teams he’s played. hats off to this guy
the award is for COACH of the year….. what a coach has done with the student athletes that are available to them. when you have the athletes you definitely become a better coach….. because you win!!! all these coaches will tell you that, especially at this level.
My vote went to Coach Frank Mazzotta Jr.
I have two boys playing Pop-Warner. They will definitely play for Coach Frank Mazzotta Jr at La Habra High. He has taken his team to the Semi’s seven years in a row, in three different CIF divisions.
I have watched his program for the last few years and it has a lot to offer. The team always plays hard and with class, even the 2nd and 3rd stringers, including the lower levels. They way I look at it, I’ll be going to at least 13 games a season while my boys attend there.
There was a question about last year. The award went to Cypress’ Ray Fenton. And you’re right that we generally don’t honor the same coach two years in a row since there are so many coaches doing excellent jobs around the county.
This is a very good list but i believe Dave White of Edison deserved to be on it.
First off, I will be labeled “bias” as I am a CDM alumni….. that said, I have been watching HS Football since the late 60′s when we lived in La Habra and my father just took me on Friday nights to watch the games. I was 8 years old. We moved to CDM in 1972 and I have not only watched my HS since but almost every important OC game ever played. Call me a junkie for HS sports.
Regarding this years Coach of the Year. Hands down it has to be Hitchens. I knoe the limelight is on Tesoro and what they have done. Taking down the counties best. A tough task. However if you really understand the makings of HS sport you will understand what kind of job coaches with limited options must do to succeed. The story this year at CDM is one for the ages, turning around a 4-5 team with the same talent pool and players and going 10-2, making the division final 4 is just too hard to ignore. This is a small school, limited student body with players whom play both sides of the ball. I’ll show you coaching when you show me a team whom plays the quarterback and entire offensive backfield on the defensive side for every play. Unheard of yet CDM has played this way since I attended back in the 70′s.
This years team has had a run, turnaround that couldn’t be scripted. Coach Hitchens and staff deserve the award of OC Coaches of the year!
To scubamcdaddy,
It’s laughable when you say public school coaches coach what they are given…HA what a laugh that one is. Schools like Tesoro have 4000 students, FVHS has 2300, with that many in the funnel they should go 10-0 every year. That a crud load of athletes to pull from. Sure privates get good athletes, but they have enrollments of 1000 or more, other than Mater Dei. Give me 4000 students and I’ll find at least 10 260 punders, at least 2 QB’s at least 2 RB’s etc etc. And if you think the publics aren’t recruiting wake the heck up!! They all have theior little pop warner and JAAF teams named after their schools and are invloved in the training of the coaches at those leagues, and are around to try and influence. The privates recruting thing is really getting OLD, Coach Kunau gets good atheltes but they are not phenoms at every spot like everone seems to think. It called good coaching. A lot of the publics might want to try it.
SEAKING80,
JSerra had 14 guys playing both sides of the ball, and all special teams. They played a full Trinity schedule, played tough in most other than Servite, anf had no injuries during league, but put at least 1 guy per game out on the other teams. They went 5-0 in non league, beat Huntington and Pacifica who went to CIF, Beat Pacifica WITH Huizar playing, they actually knocked him out for the 6 games he missed.
This constitutes Coach Jim Hartigan fineset effort in my opinion. They had 30 total guys on Varsity. As I mentioned only 14 of those played during the Varsity games.
Coach Hitchens has taken a perennial .500 team to the semi-finals in his first year with the Sea Kings. The other candidates are great but Hitchens has taken his team, 4 – 5 last year, further this year than they have. 10 – 2 so far with losses only to cross town rival NH and to #1 seed Laguna Hills make him the choice this time.
I have to say, most of the entries in this forum are based on bias, friendship and loyalty to the respective schools..evident in the writings. Mr. Jones; I respectfully disagree with you…MONEY has a lot to do with recruitment at these private institutions. If parents could afford the tuitions; they would have their boys in line to play for OLU, Mater Dei, Servite and their great coaches such as the Kunaus, Rollinsons…etc. There’s also the booster clubs for these schools that help generate huge revenues, ie big sponsors. Hence, they’ll get the creame of the crop players! I’m not signaling you out; however, as I respect your opinion. I hope you’ll respect mine.
As for Coach of the Year; again the OCR overlooks the smaller schools (lower divisions)! There are some excellent coaching staffs at these levels and they work twice as hard to make certain their players are eligible and focused on the game strategies. Kudos to all these coaches. My selection goes to a coach that took over a program that was non-existent for the past 3-4 seasons; this program lost their way when a very good coach resigned. This year the program was picked to finish 3rd and perhaps even 4th within their league; it took a young coach and his staff to instill the confidence and positive outlook into the young men slated to start for the Varsity program. He took a losing program and revamped it, brought energy and a mindset of believing! He and his coaching staff are to be commended for their dedication to the student athletes and the program…it was that development of trust, confidence and hard work that paid off which led the team to becoming League Champions and the CIF playoffs. My selection for Coach of the Year honors is Carl Agnew of Los Amigos High School (Garden Grove League).
Congrats to the nominees and I hope that the OCR will take a closer look at what is happening within the lower divisions. That of course, always falls on deaf ears.
Let’s be serious every school has some transfers or out of district players. If you go up and down La Habra’s roster I will bet it is no different. Tesoro also has a couple of transfers and one happens to be a D1 college recruit and by the way an ex Olu player. So if Olu is given players they also have them taken away.
But that’s not the point. Coach Mo is surely a very good coach. You can’t have that kind of success unless you are, The bottom line is as coach Wooden said you have to have talent to win but you don’t have to win with talent. Profound and you see it all the time.
The question is how do you seperate and measure the very best from a very elite group of coaches. I believe it comes down to consistency in winning regardless of the composition of talent that you are dealt or are given as some bloggers like to say. But it can never be truly considered unless you measure that effort against the level of competition. Look at the records against the level of competition, both athlete and coaching. Olu stands out against every other program and that relates directly to the leadership and coaching ability of Coach Kunau.
Sure St. Margarets has a 41 game winning streak and a better winning percentage over the last 4 years and there are many other small programs, public and private, that fit in that category. Many of those coaches might be able to do as good or better than the coaches in bigger programs but let’s get serious we are talking about the best coach in the county here. Let’s have some perspective and measure this thing accordingly. When Olu was in division 6 they were competing against and beating D1 teams. Mater Dei comes to mind.
Lutheran is 43-7 over the last 4 years. Three of those years in the Pac 5, the Top division in California and maybe in the country. So what does all of that have to do with this year.? They are about to take the field for their third semifinal game in 3 years in the Pac 5 playoffs and I bet after the first 5 games of this year there is nobody in this crowd that would have given them that chance. For me that is the kind of criteria that we should use to measure coach of the year.
By the way, to Clan Pride you are correct, that is exactly what La Habra should have done and a class program would try not to score points. No need to go to the locker room. Might be a good time to work on your inside running game. If you ever coached you would understand that is the right thing to do. Watch Pete Carroll and the Trojans when they get up by 35 on a lesser opponent. Lots of running and punting with 4th on the depth chart players. If they score under those conditions nobody looks down on them. Their are plenty of other programs that do the same thing.
I wouldn’t be so sure that the Anaheim coaches, players and fans are not unhappy that the score was run up and as they say Karma usually gets it’s way.
why is magnolia’s coach on there when coach howell has his 100th win where is he on this !!!!!!!!
GO WESTERN
Hitchens in a heartbeat. Handsdown.
Let’s thank the entire SEAKING staff as well….. what a turnaround and it seems this is now a program on the map again! GO CDM GO!
http://dailypilot.com/articles/2008/12/06/sports/cdm/dpt-spjohnson120608.txt#blogcomments
Brian Barnes is the best coach. He has built tremendous teams with great records over a very short period of time. But anyone can read that. What they don’t know can only come directly from his players. From what I have heard, each and every player really enjoys playing for him. He makes it fun, very much like Coach Carroll of USC. And at the end of the day, regardless of records, what it is really about is our kids having fun.
Your future president, Barak
Hey “Barak”, it’s spelled “Barack!” But I do agree with you about Coach Barnes….after tonight’s demolition of Orange Lutheran, there is no doubt!
I believe Coach Bruce Ingalls of Launa Hills deserves to be coach of the year. He’s one game away from an undefeated season. His team has beaten much larger schools than his shool this season. But what I really like about Coach Ingalls is his honesty and integrity. It’s not just all about winning. He really cares about the development both academically and socially of his players. Bruce Ingalls, laguna Hills High School, Orange County Coach of the Year!
He’s instilled in his players a sense of commitment, hard work, and excellence. His athletes not only work hard on the field but also academically. Ingalls’ has made sure these athletes play with character!
My vote is for Coach Hitchens.
It wasn’t a perfect season, but for a coach to have stepped in at an awkward time, manage atheletes with memories of their old coach and still encouraging them and training them to do well, and cause the team to have their best season since 1995 is amazing. CdM football have one of its lowest seasons last year, and for a coach to have turned the team around so well in ONE year is reason enough for him to be named Coach of the Year.
Not only that, but CdMHS is a tiny school, so there is very little player choice, and is also a public school, leaving it at a low budget, so you can’t really blame his miracle turn around on that (although he had some really amazing players.. who may or may not have broken their legs recently.)
You can base the award on amazing seasons and consistency of winning, but if you think about what a coach has done for a team.. for an entire school’s spirit, its gotta be Coach Hitchens. I’m sure next year will be even better with him as our coach.
Well, it looks like Laguna has pretty much doubled our coach, but he might luckily get 2nd place still. Good luck, and I’m sure the Laguna coach must be pretty equally deserving of it, since they had an AMAZING year.
There are many outstanding coaches on the list and some left off. The award is for coach of this year. What needs to be closely considered is the fact that both Laguna and Tesoro returned a large nucleus of players from last year’s successsful season. Laguna was a #1 from the first week. They were both “expected” to do well. That does not deminish their accomplishments.
CDM was not on anyones radar – in fact Maxpreps picked them to go 3-7. It is my understanding that Hitchens was hired in late April. He somehow managed to lead his players down the right path to a 10-3 season. They were clearly outmanned in mant games – including Mayfair – yet found a way to win. They had no “superstars” – they had what appears to be some under-sized over achievers. Not many first year coaches can garner that level of success so quickly. Looks like a pretty good job was done by Hitchens, his staff and the players.
As the former principal at Laguna Hills H.S., now retired, I feel that I can easily attest to the character of Bruce Ingalls as a leader and a man with great integrity and values, emphasizing these same values to his student athletes. Let me preface this with the coaching choices we are given who are outstanding, it is even more competitive. How you can choose only one is beyond me due to what they bring to their own players, school, and community.
Let’s not just look at wins and losses. Bruce has RAISED THE BAR each and every year he has placed his teams on the field to compete. His expectations are very high and it begins in the classroom, where he stresses academic excellence. Last year’s team had 38 players with a GPA of 3.75 or better and I wouldn’t be surprised if this year’s isn’t as competitive. He teaches and coaches the TOTAL ATHLETE.
Bruce praises and pushes them to be competitive, never belittling them so they develop total confidence. Everything they do is done with class and they respect each and every opponent. His players “don’t talk trash and taunt” as they do in college and pro games where they suggest this is part of the game when it shouldn’t be as they are suppose to be role models. Bruce expects his players to be role models and this is due to his leadership. He has assembled a staff who has been together for several years that follow his expectations as well. Continuity of an outstanding staff has made all the difference in the world. Bruce has totally brought the school, parents, and community together. Everyone wants to be in Hawk Stadium on Friday nights or wherever they are playing. They have all caught Hawk Fever.
Bruce’s teams have been very competitive this season, going undefeated. It is insignificant at what level as it is challenging at any level to go unbeaten. CIF bases everything on league placement on enrollment and total school athletic competitive equity as it should be and Bruce Ingalls has the Hawks at the top of their game. He is truly deserving as the COACH OF THE YEAR and a winner in every way. As Always, Go Hawks!!
Congratulations to coach Barnes, his staff and players. They deserve it and yes with that win against a very good Olu team, regardless of what happens next week, I believe coach Barnes should be Coach of the Year.
I also want to recognize coach Kunau his staff and players for doing a tremendous job this year.
Go Olu, can’t wait until next year.
without QUESTION hitchens from corona del mar. coming off a 4-5 season hitcens steps into his first year and takes them 12-3. He had 8 2way players and his line averereaged 200lbs., thats a freshaman team size line. their only losses were to Newport HArbor(consitant power in pac 5), Laguna Hills(14-0), and Mayfar(line avg’s 275lbs.). Also, I must say Corona del Mar is the 3rd smallest public school in the county. Tesoro is w/o question best team in the county, but its not from coaching. Barnes has a little help from his line which averages 300lbs along with 2 of the best players in the county in Picazzo and King. Hitchens is really guiding this program in the right direction and under him they will win a couple CIF championships in the upincoming years!