St. Francis Football: The Area’s Best Coaching Staff?

Surely, Ken Howard over at Muir and others will have something to say about this.

But how many high school football coaches do you know would have gone for the 2-point conversion in the second overtime?

“Screw the tie, we’re going for the win!”

Such was the case last week when St. Francis defeated St. Paul, 15-14, in double overtime in the Mission League opener for both schools.

“I talked to to my defensive coordinator and said, ‘Lets go for two'”, St. Francis coach Jimmy Bonds said. “And he said, ‘If that’s what you wanna do lets go for it.'”

Bonds gambled.

Bonds won.

Most coaches would have played the safe card and gone for the PAT and try to win it in the third OT. But Bonds wasn’t having that. He wanted the game over and he trusted his players.

I’m not saying that play alone solidifies Bonds’ staff as the area’s best football staff but it does bring up a good question: Which team has the best coaching staff?

Let us start with Jimmy Bonds:

He is in his ninth season at the helm. In his previous eight seasons the Golden Knights have reached the playoffs each year making the semifinals three times with an overall record of 56-28. He played high school football at Hart High and led them to the 1986 CIF Championship in the Northwest conference. He was a two-time All-CIF quarterback earning CIF player of the year as a senior and graduated from UCLA where played backup QB to Troy Aikman and Tommy Maddox.

Bonds is one of the smartest football coaches I’ve ever met.

Off the top of my head here is the Top 3 coaching staffs this side of the 626:


1. St. Francis — Mark Gibbons (defensive coordinator) considered one of the best linebackers ever to play at Sonoma State. Joe Monarrez (receivers coach) is in his 12th years with the Golden Knights. Played at Cal Lutheran where he was made the All-Western Conference team as a senior. Bill Stewart is in his first year and 10th overall as football coach. Graduated from La Canada High, Glendale College and University of Arizona where he helped the Wildcats shutout Miami, 29-0, in the Fiesta Bowl. Ariel Bellofiore, Patrick Carroll, Bob Jenkins and Gabriel Hallak roundout the rest of the staff.

2. Muir — Kenny Howard is the head coach and has been coaching since 1984. Stints include the Pasadena Panthers Jr. All-American as well as coaching softball, baseball and track. Antyone Sims is the offensive coordinator and Marcus Green is the defensive coordinator. Howard’s old-school demeanor separates him from the pack.

3. San Marino — D.R. Moreland is only in his fifth season as coach of the Titans but boasts an impressive staff. Moreland graduated from San Marino High in 1991 and played football at Menlo College where he played four seasons at wide reciver. Just recently Moreland was honored by the school and inducted into the Menlo Hall of Fame. Maurice Arrington is the offensive coordinator; Dave Avramovich is the defensive line and special teams coach; John Tutle coaches the quarterbacks; Eric Sepulveda coaches the linebackers and running backs and Rich Enright (a former head coach at SM) coaches the defensive backs. But no coach brings instant credibility than Mike Mooney who is in charge of the offensive line. Moooney started at San Marino under legendary coach Bill Maloney in 1994 and became the Titans coach in 1996 before leaving for Temple City and compiled a 34-5-1 record against Rio Hondo League teams in a span of eight seasons. Mooney played in two Rose Bowls as member of the USC football team from 1988-1993.

Others considered:

Arcadia; Monrovia; Rosemead; San Gabriel; Temple City; Alhambra.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Reddit Tumblr Email