THESE COACHES ARE GETTING IT DONE

This is great!

Then perhaps South Pas should be in the Montview League.

Anonymous, ever heard the expression, "I'm a coach, not a miracle worker." That's the situation Smith is in every year. They have a Div. XIII size roster and still manage to have a good season from time to time. Blame the demographics, not the coach.

Fred,

Dont you think its pretty obvious that Smith needs to be booted, after over 25 years, he hasnt done anything. And this year, the year that was supposed to be different, what happened? They cant score on the one yard line before half time, thats just bad bad coaching...

Fred, there is still a lot of season left and the best indicator is still yet to be filled, who wins their respective leagues? The argument of coaching and players can be redundant, you can have good players and bad coaching which, but winning teams have both. So the argument remaims as to the definition of BEST: he who wins most, or he that does best with his talent? How do you quantify and qualify the latter? Many times our perceptions of who is best is overshawoded in today's Rivals rankings, MaxPreps, etc. and many good solid football players and programs are overshadowed by these highly visible sites, with their bivvy of data and minutae and we construct our universe around these numbers. We then start building hierarchies based on these sometimes illusive numbers as to who is good and who is not. It's fun, but not error proof. Let's let it play out and let the game answer the call. The game does not lie and has no biases.

Perhaps the readers are just not as excited to vote for coaches as they are to vote for players.

This is interesting, only 799 votes so far (which is still plenty). The poll we ran previously asked who's the area's best girls volleyball player? That poll had over 3,000 votes. Volleyballers don't blog, but they sure do vote.

Moreland now with 237 of 799 votes, not bad. Bonds is second with 185..Keep voting through the weekend.

Coach G is famous for so-called cleaning house, just look at the carousel of coordinators that have come and gone at MHS. There has never been an issue with talent at MHS it’s always been the coordinators fault! Is that going to be the battle cry of the entire loyal and faithful wildcat fans out there if Monrovia doesn’t win a CIF Championship in this water-downed version of the Mid Valley division? With all the talent that is on the team this season, I surely hope for Coach G’s sake that the wildcats are able to bring a much overdue CIF Championship to the City and school of Monrovia otherwise the wildcat nation should start pointing their fingers in the direction where it all starts and stops.

We have several great coaches in this area, many of whom I know personally. Steve Garritson, Gil Reudaflores, Kieth Jones, Ed Smith, Mike Mooney, and Brendan McGrail (Poly) are among the several dedicated coaches who are getting a lot of of the material they have been dealt. HS coaches spend hours with the kids, on season and off and often deserve more credit and to look a bit more that straight W-L records.

I will give some credit to Ken Drain at Rio Hondo Prep, who has led his squads to two straight finals appearences, winning one title in 11 man, one in 8 man, and has a top rated team this season, with a rather small team each season.

BTW, he is a good basketball coach, too.

fred,
i expect the crowd will show support for the cats. im kindof glad it will be on thursday at seven because ill be out in san diego for the weekend so this works perfect

Philly B
San Marino is at Monrovia a week from Thursday at 7 p.m. The stands should be packed with that one.

Stangfan,
Yeah, I do think St. Francis is on the brink of something special.
They have the facility, coaching staff and tradition in place. If they can win a CIF title, it will draw more of the area's best talent there. Plus, they don't have boundaries like public schools, so skies the limit. Why not a catholic power like Bishop Amat use to be, or like Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. It is possible

Coaches polls... especially at the high school level... are tough on the kids.

The most common argument is "look at his success against what he has to work with". This directly implies that the athletes on his team aren't very talented. That's tough for kids to hear... and usually wrong.

Coaches that have big, fast, and strong kids tend to be exempt from consideration. Really... how do you think they got that way? Most high school kids WORK for their physical attributes... and that work is usually a program-wide emphasis placed, in large part, by the coach.

Yes, some kids have better genes to work with (ie. Tyler, Clausen, Matthews from Oaks C). But that team didn't have a small, slow kid on it!.. and they're not all the offspring of NFLers.

Kids that work hard... and the coaches that make it a requirement... are the ones that should be celebrated... regardless of how big, fast, or strong they are.

Fred,
what time will the game be next thursday when monrovia plays san marino

Fred,
Do you really think that St. Francis is on the brink of becoming a "super prep power?" Yes they deserve to still be ranked #1 due to their schedule and their wins but a "super prep power?" They simply do not have the impact players to qualify as a So Cal. power. SGV power yes, but nothing more and nothing less.

With over 500 votes in, Moreland still leading coaching poll with 166 votes (32 percent) and Bonds second with 115 votes (22 percent). Smith is in third, followed by Mooney and Garrison...We'll keep the poll up through the weekend. Final poll day is Sunday.

D.R. all the way. What he has done with our team this year is amazing.

Ken Drain deserves serious props down at RHP. They have great football program and he is the main cause. THEY WILL GO ALL THE WAY if the continue to work hard and not look past any opponets

By the way, Monrovia-San Marino game, which would be huge if San Marino beats Temple City on Friday, is going to be NEXT THURSDAY instead of Friday. South Pasadena will also play Blair that Thursday at 4 p.m. These were changes because of the referee shortage.

We'll figure out the dinner plans after the season, but you're right, where at the L.C. people? They'll show back up if the Spartans beat South Pas on Friday.

Hey Fred...

Where are we eating? I can't find John H and his Ruth's Chris bet on Peterson... Come to think of it, other than Jim M., I don't see anybody from La Canada.

Where's John Cook, John H, Real Time, Goin' Deep, deathb4disoner, and all the other Spartans who contributed regularly... Just because you lost a game that everyone thought you would, doesn't mean your season is over. With Peterson healthy, you could win out and have a home game in the first round...

I just wish you would go to the games and show your kids some support.

1) Which of these coaches/teams could be considered overachievers? I doubt anybody would say that Muir, Monrovia or St. Francis are overachieving, not with their talent bases. San Marino and South Pas could be considered overachievers as soon as they beat somebody they are not supposed to. Did that happen when they beat Alhambra? Overachieving can be a sign of great coaching.

2) Garrison and Howard have done great jobs keeping their players focused. Muir could have packed it in after getting destroyed in its opener. Monrovia could have taken a couple weeks to bounce back after the heart-breaking loss to West Covina. Both teams have responded like future champions. The coaches and players deserve a lot of credit for that.

3)Mooney is eliminated after the loss to La Salle.

Even though I would never consider Monrovia to be an overachiever (because of its natural resources), I think Garrison gets the call. He developed Potts into virtually a mistake free QB. G is patient enough to establish a ground game even though he has a division I Quarterback. The CATS have dominated every second half this season, indicating phenomenal half-time adjustments and off-season as well as in-season conditioning. He had the guts to clean house last spring and bring in some new coordinators who would carry-out his strategy and philosophy of achieving excellence.

i have to give it up to coach G at monrovia. he coached me and he has a very good staff under him, old and new. its the staff that makes him look real good honestly, but garrison knows how to motivate his players and keep them in line. because as well as everyone here, the players also know how talented they are and at other schools coaches might let there kids get all big headed, but garrison doesnt play that. everyones one the same page and he is the best coach in my eyes just because he keeps those kids humble

NY, they're frontrunners on the Star-News website poll. But both are very deserving candidates. Considering how bad San Marino was last year, to be 5-1 is quite an improvement. St. Francis has played a very tough schedule to be 5-1 also. Bonds has that program on the brink of becoming a super prep power.
Having said that, prep polls are usually a popularity contest anyway. A couple weeks ago we asked who's the area's best girls volleyball player. Pasadena's Kimmee Roleder, rated one of the top seniors in the country and going to USC, finished fourth or fifth in our area poll.

What about Ken Howard. Comming
in to the season Muir only had
7-10 players how played varisty football last year. This team lost key guys at every position and had to replace them with guys who did'nt have the experience or the talent of the players who left. what school can back and have a good record?

FJ,
Please explain why Bonds and Mooreland are the frontrunners. I'm just curious about your intuition.

Fred,

You did pick poorly last week regarding your predictions. Next time you should really listen to my 2-minute drill info as I went 15-1 last week. Thanks.

BigM, you got me. I had a bad week.
I guarantee CalPreps won't beat me this week. That's a dinner on me if they do.

What about Keith Jones at San Gabriel?

I would have to mention first year head couch Joel Murphy from Maranatha. The respect he has earned from players and fans alike, as well as taking a team that has had coach turn over in the past few years should earn him an honorable mention.

Fred...

Your dig last week about CalPreps proved incorrect... their predictions you posted went 12-4... and two of their mistakes, Pasadena and Cantwell, were missed by you as well.

Why are you anti-CalPreps?

Coach G has 'em rolling in Monrovia. The gameplanning for LC was perfect... NO ONE predicted a shutout.

That's one win Agustin. You forgot to mention their loss to San Marino. Hey, Lancers are doing great now, but fact is they're still 2-5. The coaches on this list are 5-1 or better.

You forgot to mention Ealar Gahllagher whose Lancers, ran all over Mooney's Rams!