New head coach Bechtel on leaving for Chino Hills: ‘It was a gamble’

The vision that prompted Matt Bechtel to leave his first head coaching job after just two seasons and leave the Chaffey Joint Union School District after 16 years came to fruition last week. After one year as the Chino Hills offensive coordinator, Bechtel was hired as the school’s head football coach. He interviewed on Feb. 12 and was offered the position Feb. 14.

Bechtel, Colony’s head coach from 2010 to 2011, replaces Derek Bub, who resigned after five years as head coach citing the death of his father in October and his desire to pursue an administrative position. Knowing Bub was closing in on his administrative credential, Bechtel had his eye on the Chino Hills head coaching job when he accepted the offensive coordinator role and a teaching position last year in the Chino Valley Unified School District. But the move didn’t come without risk.

“Most people don’t get an administrative credential and sit on it for five or six years,” Bechtel said. “Did I think this was going to happen in eight months? No. It was a gamble for me to come here. I gave up tenure and 16 years at a time when job security in the teaching profession was in disarray, but you can’t get ahead in life without taking risks.”

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Source: Etiwanda hires La Puente’s Brandon Rohrer as head football coach

Etiwanda’s three-month search for a head football coach is over. Brandon Rohrer, La Puente’s football coach for the last four seasons, has been hired, pending board approval, according to an anonymous source. Roherer, who went 33-11 at La Puente, will replace Tommy Leach, who went 4-6 in his one season as Etiwanda’s head coach.

After finishing second his first three seasons, Rohrer led La Puente to a share of the Montview League championship last season. La Puente has exited the playoffs in the first round each of his four seasons.

After reaching the playoffs five consecutive seasons, Etiwanda missed the playoffs in 2012 for the second straight year. Leach departed after one season citing the long commute from Temecula Chaparral, where he is a teacher.

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Los Osos’ new football coach not happy with program’s place in league

The nature of Kevin Price’s ascension to head football coach at Los Osos High School, the position to which he was named on Tuesday, doesn’t exactly inspire change. He has been a member of the coaching staff since the school’s inception in 2002 and the defensive coordinator for the last eight seasons under Tom Martinez, the only head coach the school had ever known.

But Price made clear the bus doesn’t just have a new driver, it’s going in a different direction.

“When we started the program, there were a lot of different rules in place,” he said. “My perspective is different, not necessarily better, but different on things like how much time we will put in now. We’ve had success here in the past but have we had as much success as we wanted? No.”

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Defensive coordinator named head football coach at Los Osos

Kevin Price, the Los Osos defensive coordinator for the last eight years, has been hired as the school’s next head football coach, according to former head coach and current athletic director Tom Martinez. Price, a teacher at Los Osos, has coached for the Grizzlies in some capacity the last 12 years and spent the previous six years coaching at Rancho Cucamonga.

Martinez, the head coach at Los Osos since the school’s inception in 2002, stepped down from his head coaching position in January due to the demands of both jobs, according to Los Osos principal Susan Petrocelli.

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Eventful week at Miller, whose AD visits Ike coach Johnson in hospital

An eventful week at Miller High School ended with conclusion of its three-month search for a new head football coach. The replacement for Marcus Soward will be a 26-year-old first-time head coach from Clovis High School. Justin Nast, a Washington D.C. native, was impressive in his interview, as detailed in this story, but also did some interviewing of his own by getting in tough with former Miller coach Jeff Steinberg.

After interviewing football coaches for weeks, Miller athletic director John Romagnoli conducted an interview of a different nature Tuesday when he visited Eisenhower basketball coach Steve Johnson in the hospital. It was “a surreal day,” as described by Romagnoli, who is also the Miller basketball coach and has competed with Johnson for years in the Citrus Belt League.

The Miller girls basketball program was also highlighted this week, in a feature story on senior Rachel McCoy, who hadn’t played organized sports before high school. She is now a Division-I scholarship basketball player and a state champion in track despite only having competed for two seasons.

Damien hires Riverside North head coach to take over football program

Damien High School’s search for a head football coach is over after it hired Mark Paredes, who spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Riverside North. Paredes replaces Greg Gano, who resigned in December after four seasons at Damien, where he posted a 20-22 overall record with two playoff appearances.

The last three years have been Paredes’ second stint at North after he coached there from 1994-2001, during which he won two CIF championships. Last season was a bit disappointing for North, which was expected to be a dangerous playoff team its first season in the Central Division. But the Huskies finished 6-5 after a first-round loss to eventual CIF champion, Kaiser. After a 2-8 season in 2010, Paredes led North to a 10-2 record in a 2011 season that also ended with a loss to an eventual CIF champ as Vista Murrieta dispatched the Huskies in the quarterfinals of the much tougher Inland Division.

The move back to the Catholic School system fulfills Paredes’ desire to return home to his coaching roots in the Catholic High School environment, according to a press release from Damien. Paredes will also serve as a history teacher.

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Death of his father prompts Chino Hills head football coach to resign

As soon as his father died unexpectedly in October, Chino Hills coach Derek Bub knew he didn’t want his own children to feel like they missed out on time with their father. Bub finished out his fifth season as head football coach at Chino Hills High School, but resigned from the position Tuesday night in order to spend more time with his family.

“When my father passed away, I realized that I just needed to be a dad to my kids,” Bub said. “I take every Christmas break to think about whether I’m going to continue to coach. I was extremely close with my father and anytime something like this happens, it makes you see things differently.”

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After 10 seasons, Tom Martinez ‘no longer the football coach at Los Osos’

Tom Martinez confirmed in an email Tuesday evening that he is no longer the head football coach at Los Osos High School. Coach since the school’s inception in 2002, Martinez led the Grizzlies to eight playoff appearances in 10 seasons, including a postseason berth in 2012. He will remain the athletic director at Los Osos.

He did not explain whether it was his decision to step down or he was removed from the head football coaching position. “I will focus all my efforts on the AD job here at Los Osos HS,” Martinez wrote in an email.

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Gano withdraws candidacy as Etiwanda coaching search continues

Etiwanda High School’s search for a head football coach continues after former Damien coach Greg Gano withdrew his name from candidacy on Friday.

Gano, Damien’s head coach the last four seasons after stints at Covina Northview and Hacienda Heights Los Altos, has instead applied and interviewed for the head coaching job at Tustin. Gano was never offered the position at Etiwanda, according to Etiwanda athletic director David Masucci. The former Damien coach cited the lack of a teaching position at Etiwanda as his reason for withdrawing.

“Everything else was great because (Etiwanda) is even right by my house,” Gano said. “But without a teaching position, I just couldn’t afford it. So I interviewed for the Tustin position last week and I’m waiting to find out.”

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