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When reached by phone last night, former Colony High School football coach Matt Bechtel said he resigned Tuesday with the intent to explore other coaching opportunities, perhaps in the college ranks. It came as a surprise to many when the coach stepped down after a successful two-year run at Colony that ended with a Mt. Baldy League championship and a trip to the CIF-SS Central Division semifinals in his second season as a head coach after seven years as the Los Osos High School offensive coordinator.

Echoing Colony athletic director Jaime Sandoval's comments on Tuesday evening, Bechtel referenced the desire to coach college football, but was clear that nothing specific is currently lined up.

"I need to do what's best for my family and what's best for me at this point in my life," Bechtel said. "I've been fortunate enough to have some opportunities presented to me virtually every season and there's some things that have struck my attention. I don't have anything for sure in the works, but I have a good feeling that things are going to develop."

Garey filled its vacancy for a new head football coach by hiring former Diamond Ranch offensive coordinator Al Brown on April 17. Brown, who spent five seasons at Diamond Ranch, takes over for Leonard Hudson, who was fired in February after a winless 2011 season.

"After 20 years of being an assistant, I thought it was the right time and the right place," Brown said. "I told the kids we only have to change one thing, and that's everything."

Garey made the playoff for the first time 10 years with a fourth-place finish in the Mt. Baldy League in 2010, but fell on hard times again last year. Brown is coming from another program in Pomona that has reached two CIF championship games during his tenure as offensive coordinator.

"I'm not going to come out and predict that we'll be league champs or CIF champs, but we will compete," Brown said. "When you're getting beat 48-6, there's just no fire there. I know we'll be fundamentally sound. I know we'll have a game plan and I know we'll be prepared."

Matt Bechtel resigned on Tuesday after two seasons as Colony High School's head football coach, according to Colony athletic director Jaime Sandoval. Bechtel went 18-6 in his first two seasons as a head coach, leading the Titans to a Mt. Baldy League championship last season before reaching the CIF-SS Central Division semifinals.

"I think some other opportunities have been out there for him, particularly in the last two or three months," Sandoval said. "I think it was a tough decision for him to leave considering he came in with such a vision for this program and the amount of work he put into it. But ultimately I think he needed to look at those other opportunities."

Bechtel did not immediately return a message Wednesday evening. Bechtel offered to coach the team through the end of spring football and Sandoval said he expects Bechtel to finish out the school year as a teacher at Colony before perhaps taking another job. Colony is already attempting to find a replacement for Bechtel, who came to Colony after seven seasons as the offensive coordinator at Los Osos High School. Bechtel has even offered to aid the new coach in an effort to ease the transition, according to Sandoval.

Rancho Cucamonga High School baseball coach Joe Laski was fired on Wednesday, according to multiple sources, eight games into his tenure as the Cougars head coach. The reason for Laski's termination remains unknown. When reached by phone on Thursday, Laski declined comment. Rancho Cucamonga athletic director Sean Sullivan also declined to comment on the matter.

"I have strict instructions not to comment in any way about that issue," Sullivan said.

Laski, a Rancho Cucamonga resident, is also a teacher at Baldwin Park High School. For the previous seven years Laski was the head baseball coach at Gabrielino High School before Rancho Cucamonga hired him July 12 to replace Chris Amaya, who mysteriously resigned in May following his fifth year as the Cougars head baseball coach and the team's fourth consecutive postseason appearance.

A school official coached Rancho Cucamonga in today's 7-3 victory over Upland. The win gave the Cougars an overall record of 3-6 on the season and evened its Baseline League record at 1-1.

After winning a CIF championship at Summit High School last season, head coach Tony Barile accepted the head football coaching position at Eastvale Roosevelt High School on Sunday. Barile, who has coached Summit from the program's inception in 2006, led the SkyHawks to the CIF-SS Eastern Division championship in December, the school's first CIF title of any kind.

A member of the vaunted Big VIII League, Roosevelt will be competing with the likes of two-time defending CIF-SS Inland Division champion Corona Centennial, a perennial state title contender. Having taken Summit to the top played a role in Barile's decision to depart for Roosevelt, a decision he wrestled with over the weekend.

"When I look back on my coaching moves, that played into it somewhat," Barile said of the CIF title. "I had reached a goal and now I've got an opportunity to compete for a state championship, a new goal. I'm going to miss the people at Summit but at the same time I know they're prepared to continue to be successful."

Aquinas High School football coach Nick Matheny is up for approval to assume Fontana High School's head football coaching position, according to the agenda for Wednesday's Fontana Unified School District board meeting. When reached by phone Tuesday evening, Matheny could not comment on his status as the new Fontana football coach.

If approved, Matheny will be Fontana's third head coach in three years. In three years as the Aquinas head coach, Matheny's teams have posted a combined 26-9 record and won two league championships.

Fontana has won one game in its last two seasons combined, going winless in 2010, the final season of the five-year tenure of Lance Ozier, and 1-9 under Tim Pike last season. Matheny is a Fontana High School graduate who played his freshman season for the Steelers in legendary coach Dick Bruich's final year at the school.

Aaron Jamieson has been approved as the new head football coach at Pomona High School, according to athletic director Joe Biagioni. Jamieson was an assistant at Pomona the last two years under Anthony Rice, who resigned Jan. 13.

"Aaron is a good coach with a lot of energy," Biagioni said. "He is also a very good teacher as well. He has the background and experience and is ready to be a head coach. The fact that Aaron has been a part of the staff and foundation that Anthony Rice has established will help make the transition smoother."

Jamieson was an assistant at Carter from 2005-2007 before joining Rice's staff at Colony in 2008 to coach defensive backs and running backs. In addition to coaching the Red Devils, Jamieson has been a teacher at Pomona the last two years.

Lou Randall was hired on Tuesday as the new head football coach at Don Lugo, according to Don Lugo athletic director Joe Marcos. Randall won three CIF championships during a tenure at Riverside North, his last stop as a head coach, that ended in 2007. He was an assistant coach at Chino Hills last season.

Randall was interviewed Friday along with six other candidates from the Chino Valley Unified School district. He was officially notified of his selection on Tuesday.

"With Lou, it was his experience that stood out," Marcos said. "He has won in several places. He has a great resume. I've known about him for a long time. There were a lot of good candidates even though it was all in house, so it wasn't an easy decision."

Leonard Hudson has been fired after three seasons as Garey High School's head football coach, the last of which was an 0-9 campaign during which the average margin of defeat was more than 30 points. The subpar 2011 season came one year after Hudson led the Vikings to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years courtesy of a 5-6 overall mark and a fourth-place finish in the Mt. Baldy League.

Hudson made public comments during the 2011 season that he wasn't pleased with the level of support for the football team from the administration, but he was judicious in his departure.

"They said they had their direction and I had my direction and they wanted to go in their direction more," Hudson said. "It was totally unexpected and I don't know where this came from. But there were some personal issues between me and the administration."

Seven candidates have been selected from within the Chino Valley Unified School District to be interviewed Feb. 17 for the vacant Don Lugo head football coaching job, according to Don Lugo athletic director Joe Marcos. Rick Martin retired Jan. 26 after four years at the helm. Don Lugo is not required to choose one of the seven candidates.

"After the interviews, we'll see," Marcos said. "We opened (the job) up to the district and if we're not satisfied after the interviews, we'll open it up to the outside."

After a one-year hiatus, the Stevens family is back in charge of the football team at Ontario Christian High School. Chris Stevens, the Knights' head coach from 2005 to 2008, was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach on Thursday following last week's departure of Scott Hurst, who led Ontario Christian to an Ambassador League championship in his lone season in charge.

Hurst took over for Chris' father Laing Stevens, who coached the Knights for two seasons following the end of his son's tenure in 2008 due to the birth of Chris' triplets. Hurst's departure was a mutual decision, according to Ontario Christian athletic director David Parkes, in part due to the great distance Hurst had to travel from his home to Ontario Christian. Stevens, who was the Knights' offensive coordinator the last two seasons, wasn't expecting the move but is happy to be back as the head coach.

Don Lugo High School head football coach Rick Martin resigned Thursday after four years at the helm. Martin will remain a physical education teacher at the school for which he has coached the last 13 years, but cited the desire to spend more time with his three young children.

"When I took over the program four years ago I made a commitment to see the freshman class through to their senior year," Martin said. "I did that and now it's time for me to coach my own kids at home."

Martin's final season landed Don Lugo in the playoffs for the second time in the last three years, but ended in rocky fashion. Martin was placed on administrative leave following a non-football related tussle with a student on Oct. 20, multiple sources confirmed to the Daily Bulletin. After an investigation by the Chino Valley School District was completed over a 10-day period, Martin resumed coaching and teaching following the short time of leave, according to district director of communications Julie Gobin.

Longtime Garey baseball coach Monse Estrada was hired to be the head coach at Western Christian on Jan. 17. Estrada spent the first 39 years of his coaching career at Garey before being asked to leave after last season. Estrada takes over a Western Christian program that won three consecutive league titles prior to last season's sixth-place finish in the Ambassador League.

"I think we're pretty well in the top of the league," Estrada said. "These kids go hard for two and a half hours of practice. They're dedicated. That's all you can ask for."

Estrada brings plenty of success and an abundance of experience to Western Christian. He had opportunities to be an assistant coach but wanted to hold out for a head coaching job.

"With his philosophy and ours, it was yes, yes, yes all the way down the checklist," Western Christian athletic director Nick Karavedas said. "He has the knowledge of how to build a program but the patience and maturity to help us through a bit of a rebuilding phase."

Thomas Leach was approved Tuesday by the school board to become Etiwanda's new head football coach. After head coaching stints for two and five seasons, respectively at Diamond Ranch and Chaparral, Leach will take over for Steve Bryce, who resigned following last season.

"He seems like the type of guy that if we lose a game, it's not going to be because he got outcoached," Etiwanda athletic director David Masucci said. "He puts in the time and he cares a great deal about what he does. He's a players' coach, the type that gets his players to run through walls for him."

Leach posted a 47-19 record in five seasons at Chaparral, winning a CIF-SS Inland Division championship in 2009. He was most recently an assistant coach for Norco after departing Chaparral following the 2010 season.

Anthony Rice resigned Friday after two seasons as the Pomona High School head football coach, opting to focus his efforts on seeking an administrative position. After winning two CIF-SS Central Division championships in four seasons at Colony High School, Rice was hired at Pomona prior to the 2010 season. Pomona went 5-5 in Rice's first season before ending a seven-year playoff drought last season by posting a 6-5 mark good for a third-place finish in the Valle Vista League.

"I think we made good progress, but it was harder than I thought it would be," Rice said. "When I first came on here, my thing was to try and get into administration. I told my wife it would be a two-year thing from the beginning."

Just before Christmas break, Rice told Pomona principal Roger Fasting and athletic director Joe Biagioni he was considering resignation. The two convinced Rice to consider his options over the break, but he returned only to officially resign on Jan 13.

Thomas Leach, previously the head football coach at Temecula Chaparral and Diamond Ranch, will be recommended for board approval on Tuesday as Etiwanda High School's new head football coach, according to the Chaffey Joint Union High School district board agenda. If approved, Leach will replace Steve Bryce, who resigned following last season, his seventh season at the helm for Etiwanda.

Leach coached Temecula Chaparral for five seasons before departing after the 2010 season. He was an assistant coach for Norco last year. Prior to accepting the head coaching position at Chaparral, he was the Diamond Ranch head coach in 2004 and 2005 following a stint as an assistant at Huntington Beach Edison. Etiwanda athletic director David Masucci declined to comment prior to Leach's board approval.

After 12 years at the helm, Bonita head football coach Eric Podley will step down... but not very far. According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune's story special teams coordinator Adrian Medrano will take over as head coach and Podley will be his offensive coordinator.

Podley led the team to two league titles, nine playoff appearances and the CIF-SS Southeast Division championship game two seasons ago where the Bearcats lost a game for the ages, 37-33, to West Covina. Bonita's long time head coach struggled with a health issue last season, an infection that caused him to drop a large amount of weight, that played a large role in his decision.

After seven seasons as the Etiwanda High School head football coach and "31 straight years on a football team," Steve Bryce will resign effective at semester's end on Dec. 21.

Bryce has been on the Etiwanda sideline in some capacity for the last 15 seasons but with his first child due in January, Bryce and his wife decided it best for him to step down. He will continue to teach anatomy and physiology at Etiwanda.

"It's going to be tough," Bryce said. "It was difficult telling the players because I didn't want them to think I was abandoning them. I'll still be here for them but I wanted them to understand that I was putting my family first for the first time ever."

Alta Loma's new baseball coach, Tim Burton, was approved by the school board Tuesday night and officially took over the program this week after Ted Persell, who coached the Braves for the last eight seasons, resigned in May.

Burton's coaching experience has been primarily in the collegiate ranks with stints at USC, Riverside Community College and, most recently, Cal Poly Pomona, where he has spent a total of six years as an assistant. He hopes to step into the deep Baseline League and maintain a quality program at Alta Loma.

"I think there's a good enough mix of returning players and newcomers that we'll be competitive here," Burton, 37, said. "This is a rich league we're in, but I'm excited about what we've got."

Joe Laski, the head baseball coach for seven years at Gabrielino High School, has been hired to take over the baseball program at Rancho Cucamonga. Laski, 33, was an assistant coach last year at Baldwin Park following seven seasons at Gabrielino, the last four of which ended in Mission League championships. He was approved by the school board on Tuesday to replace Chris Amaya, who mysteriously resigned in May following his fifth year as the Cougars head baseball coach and the team's fourth consecutive postseason appearance.

"My perception is that this program has been a good program where players have gone on and played in college and the team has been competitive," Laski said. "When you ask people about Rancho Cucamonga, they say it's a good program. I want people to say it's great. I want this program to standout."

Rancho Cucamonga won two wild card games combined in the last four seasons, each of which ended in the first round of the playoffs. The Cougars finished third in the Baseline League three consecutive seasons before a fourth-place finish last year. Etiwanda, the third place team from the Baseline League last season, reached the CIF-SS Division 2 championship game.

After the departure of Brice Sunderland, who served as the Etiwanda High School athletic director the last 14 years, the school didn't have to look far for a replacement. As of July 1, Etiwanda softball coach David Masucci expanded his duties to include athletic director. A science teacher for 10 years and the softball coach since 2002, Masucci was all to glad to add to his responsibilities when he was hired as the athletic director.

"I'm attracted to all the sporting events anyway but this job just gives me a chance to really be involved," Masucci said. "Now I'm just getting paid to do what I love."

After five years as the Ayala High School head football coach, Tom Inglima was forced to transfer to Chino High in order to keep a teaching job, losing his position as football coach in the process. Budget cuts were cited as the reason for the transfer of Inglima, who was the least tenured of the physical education teachers at Ayala.

"It has long been the policy of Ruben S. Ayala to have the varsity football coach as an assigned teacher," said Julie Gobin, the Chino Valley Unified School District director of communications. "Given Mr. Inglima's transfer to Chino High, a new varsity football coach will be named within the next two weeks."

Inglima turned the Ayala football program around, literally going from winless to league champs in his first three years. After a 0-10 season in his first year, Inglima led the Bulldogs to a 4-1 mark in the Sierra League in 2007 while earning Inland Valley Coach of the Year from the Daily Bulletin. In 2008, Ayala went 9-3 and claimed a share of the league title.

One of the last remaining of the old guard, Etiwanda athletic director Brice Sunderland has resigned in order to accept a position at Eastvale Roosevelt High School as an athletic director and assistant principal. Sunderland, one of the longest tenured athletic directors in the Inland Valley, was at Etiwanda for 16 years and held the athletic director position for the last 14.

"I got my administration credential in February and there was an opening at Roosevelt to not only be an athletic director but an assistant principal," Sunderland said. "There were over 80 candidates and I was fortunate enough to get it. I just couldn't pass it up."

Ontario High School hired new head football and baseball coaches that were approved by the school board on Tuesday.

Ronald Stocking Jr. will take over the football program after two seasons as the linebackers coach and assistant head coach at Alta Loma High School. Gregg Givens, a longtime teacher at Ontario and former assistant baseball coach for the Jaguars under Bob Beck, will assume control of the baseball program after the resignation of head coach Mike Sweeney.

Former Ontario head football coach Steve Randall, who resigned following last season, bequeaths a program to Stocking that the new coach is very familiar with seeing as Stocking was an assistant coach for five seasons at Colony High School, a fellow member of the Mt. Baldy League.

The first and only Miller High School baseball coach is stepping down after 20 years on the job. Frank Martinez, who began the program at Miller's inception, resigned at age 52 but will retain his physical education teaching position at the school.

"When I got into my 50s, I started looking at other things I wanted to do with my life," Martinez said. "It was coaching year-round and with the budget cuts, I had to become a lot more of a fund raiser. It was just a lot of things that added up and I decided to hang it up."

After stints as an assistant coach at Tustin Foothill, Corona and Norco High Schools, Martinez accepted his first head coaching position at Miller in 1991. In the last six seasons, Martinez has led Miller to a five playoff berths and a pair of Citrus Belt League championships.

After four years on the job, Claremont baseball coach Steve Jackson was fired following the season, according to Claremont athletic director Rick Dutton. Jackson, who was a firefighter in addition to a baseball coach, failed to lead Claremont to a playoff berth in his four seasons.

"When you're an off-campus coach, for some two or three hours is enough but baseball requires a little more than that," Dutton said. "Part of the issue with Steve was that he was a little too involved (as a fireman) and we were concerned that he didn't have enough time for baseball."

Claremont is currently accepting applications for the coaching vacancy and hopes to have someone in place by July.

Ted Persell resigned as Alta Loma High School's head baseball coach after eight seasons with the Braves and 12 total years as a head coach. Persell, who will continue as a special education teacher at Alta Loma, expressed the need to take a break from the long hours but said he anticipated a return to coaching.

"Coaching is year round with the fall, summer, sixth period and the weekends," Persell said. "There's just a point in your career where you get tired. I think it's time for me to be a little selfish. Maybe I'll like this break but maybe I won't."

Persell coached for four seasons at El Monte Mountain View before taking over the Alta Loma program eight seasons ago. The Cal State Fullerton graduate, who was a member of the 1995 College World Series championship team, not only is interested in returning to coach in high school but perhaps at a higher level.

Reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Rancho Cucamonga principal Kern Oduro stated that Cougars sixth-year baseball coach Chris Amaya has resigned. There is some confusion as to whether Amaya resigned due to fact that his contract was not going to be renewed. Following the Cougars' wild card playoff loss to Yucaipa on Tuesday, Amaya confirmed he will not be back as coach of the baseball team but couldn't comment on why he is leaving.

"He basically resigned," Oduro said. "I can't comment on it any more than that right now. It's tough for our team but we've got to move forward."

Amaya was clearly emotional following his last game as head coach, as was the rest of the Rancho Cucamonga baseball team, which shared a group hug on the field following a 3-0 loss to Yucaipa that eliminated it from the postseason on Tuesday. Rancho Cucamonga will fly the opening for a baseball coach within the Chaffey Joint Union School district.

Rancho Cucamonga baseball coach Chris Amaya coached his final game at the school on Tuesday just four days after Alta Loma's Ted Persell resigned. Following Rancho Cucamonga's 3-0 wild-card playoff loss to Yucaipa Tuesday, Amaya confirmed he was done after six years as the Cougars head coach but couldn't comment on the nature of his departure. The Daily Bulletin has confirmed that his contract was not renewed. Persell confirmed in an email to the Daily Bulletin that he had resigned and desired a break from coaching.

Amaya and Persell represent the second and third Baseline League baseball coaches who were employed at the beginning of the season but no longer hold their positions. Los Osos Dominick Copas was fired April 22 after a profanity-laced voice mail he left for a player several months ago was discovered. Etiwanda head baseball coach Shane Moses resigned following last season, the first of four Baseline League baseball coaches out of a job in less than a year.

Montclair head football coach Rick Ward resigned his position after three years at the helm, according to Montclair athletic director Bill Blades. Ward, who led the Cavaliers to their first playoff berth in eight years in his final season, stepped down April 16.

After consecutive 3-7 seasons, the Cavaliers went 5-6 last year, finishing third in the Mt. Baldy League.

"We really liked the direction the program was headed under Rick," Blades said. "It's unfortunate we have to find somebody else but we'll try to get somebody in here to keep it going the right direction."

With the resignation of Ward and Ontario's Steve Randall since the end of the season, the Mt. Baldy League will feature two new coaches next year.

Ayala High School hired John Mounce as its boys basketball coach Friday, replacing Kenny Donavon, who resigned in July to spend more time with his family. Mounce was an assistant coach most recently at Chino, but has also coached at Newport Harbor and Mater Dei, where he played under Gary McKnight, one of the winningest high school basketball coaches in the state.

"(Ayala) principal (Diana) Yarboi and I were very impressed with his vision for our program," Ayala athletic director Steve Martin said. "He had a blue print, in writing, of where he wants to go with the program."

Don Furnald, who was hired as Etiwanda's head baseball coach Thursday, spoke today about trying to spark an Etiwanda program that has one winning season in its last six and hasn't made the playoffs since Brice Sunderland become the athletic director in 1997.

"The biggest expectation is to change the culture of the program," Furnald said. "We're trying to bring in a whole new program. It's not like since I've been an assistant I'm going to come in and run the same program."

Furnald, 30, doesn't think the Eagles are far from being a playoff team.

"It feels like we're right on the brink," he said. "We want to be right in the mix in the Baseline League and that's where we were last year. We're trying to increase the positivity of Etiwanda baseball. We're trying to build a tradition. We haven't had that in a while and we're trying to start that now."

After serving as an assistant for four years, Don Furnald was hired Thursday as Etiwanda High School's head baseball coach, according to Etiwanda athletic director Brice Sunderland. Furnald, a Rancho Cucamonga High School graduate, replaces Shane Moses, who resigned in June likely due to a contentious relationship with the Etiwanda administration. Moses, who posted one winning season in his last six with the Eagles, temporarily resigned in April before returning after a two-game absence to finish out his final season.

"We are excited to see a longtime member of the Chaffey District family take over our baseball program," Sunderland said. "Coach Furnald knows the game, he knows our kids, and I am very confident that he will establish a new tradition here with the Eagles."

A rocky end to the baseball season led to the resignation of Etiwanda baseball coach Shane Moses last month, athletic director Brice Sunderland confirmed. Things between Moses and the administration were bad enough that the baseball coach temporarily resigned on April 22, missing two games before returning to finish out the Eagles' 13-13 season.

"Obviously there were some things going on at the tail end of last season," Sunderland said. "I think (Moses) thought it was best for him to step down."

Moses said he resigned for personal reasons, according to Sunderland, who declined to elaborate on the friction during the end of the season. During Moses' final six seasons, Etiwanda posted a winning record once - 14-10 in 2007 - but did not earn a playoff berth in compiling a combined 26-65 record in the Baseline League. Etiwanda is currently accepting applications for the job from within the Chaffey Joint Union School District.

Fontana High School athletic director Evelyn Vance may be retiring but it's a safe bet she won't ever escape the competitive drive that drew her to the school 29 years ago. On June 30, Vance stepped down after five years as Fontana's athletic director and 24 years coaching "just about every sport" at Fontana. Her newfound free time, however, will be devoted to an effort to rejoin the U.S. National triathlon team.

Despite a knee replacement a year ago, Vance, 60, is ready to dive back into the regimen that took her to 10 Iron Man competitions. She's hoping that feats the likes of a 2.5-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride capped by a full marathon lie ahead of her. The fruits of the journey she's leaving behind are nothing short of impressive.

"I came here in 1980 and it was the start of an empire," Vance said. "I was running a junior high program that looked like a small college program. The town took me in and I've taken so much pride working in this city and for this school."

As the head girls basketball coach for 17 years at Ayala High School, Mel Sims has seen his share of games on the hardwood. It's the lack of soccer games, among other things, that led him to a decision to retire from coaching on Thursday.

"I've got a daughter on the soccer team who I saw play one game all of last year," Sims said. "I've had 35 great years but at some point you've got to choose between work and family. I've been neglecting my family for too long."

Sims, 69, has coached the Ayala girls to 14 consecutive Sierra League titles, leading the Bulldogs to a CIF championship in 2007 before a triple-overtime loss cost them a berth in the state championship game. He also won a CIF title in 1990 coaching the Pasadena Muir girls.

Scott Morrison, the former Damien High School football coach, has accepted the head coaching position at Workman High School in the City of Industry. Morrison, a Damien alum, was let go as Damien's coach before the 2009 season and replaced by Greg Gano. Morrison was Damien's coach from 2003-08, making the playoffs four times and winning two Sierra League titles. He continued to teach English at Damien this past year.

Morrison coached at Citrus College last fall, serving as the Special Teams Coordinator/Strength & Conditioning Coach/Outside Receivers Coach.

Three days after he was fired, Kenny Donavon was re-hired as the Ayala High School boys basketball coach on Friday.

At a Tuesday meeting called by Donavon to review his first season as the varsity head coach -- the Bulldogs finished 17-12, third in the Sierra League and reached the second round of the playoffs -- Ayala first-year principal Diana Yarboi fired Donavon much to the surprise of the coach and athletic director Steve Martin, who had not been consulted about the decision.

Yarboi, who could not be reached for comment, offered Donavon his job back on Friday.

"She told me she made a mistake," Martin said. "She's a principal in her first year and I think she was trying to placate as many parents as she could. I think she's discovering, in athletics you can't placate everybody."

Ayala High School boys basketball coach Kenny Donavon was fired on Tuesday by principal Diana Yarboi after one season as the varsity head coach. After his promotion last year by then principal Mike Vaughn following several seasons as the junior varsity coach, Donavon led the Bulldogs to a 17-12 record, third place in the Sierra League and a first-round playoff victory.

In a meeting ostensibly for evaluation on Tuesday, Yarboi informed a surprised Donavon and athletic director Steve Martin the school wanted to "go in a different direction."

"I'm a little perplexed myself," Donavan said. "When I asked (Yarboi) why, she just repeated that they wanted to go in a different direction. It was a short meeting."

Yarboi, in her first year as the Ayala principal, could not be reached for comment.

Ontario replaced recently departed girls basketball coach Bryan Grant with Kevin Crocker last week. An assistant coach in the Colony boys basketball program for the last seven years, Crocker could be approved as the Jaguars new head coach as early as a March 16 board meeting. Grant, who stepped down after the birth of his second child, led Ontario from four wins in his first season of 2007-08 to 18 wins and a second consecutive playoff appearance last season.

"Bryan Grant did a great job of turning the program back around the last couple of years," Crocker said. "We definitely have the athletes to build upon what he has done."

After his name has been linked to the job for weeks, Anthony Rice was hired as the Pomona High School head football coach on Thursday, pending school board approval.

Following two CIF championship seasons in four years at Colony High School, the Pomona native will be the fifth coach in seven seasons for a program that hasn't made the playoffs since winning the Valle Vista League in 2003.

"When people think of Pomona, they shed a negative light on it," Rice said. "But that's not how I think of Pomona because that's where I'm from. These kids are in the same boat I was in when I was growing up and I want to turn this program back into what it used to be."

Unlike when Rice was a record-setting running back at Garey High School, the Pomona Unified School district is saturated with new schools. The dispersed talent is the reason for Pomona football's lack of recent success but the Red Devils have the talent to end their playoff drought, according to Rice.

After seven years as the offensive coordinator at Los Osos High School, Matt Bechtel was hired as the head football coach at Colony High School on Monday, pending board approval that can come no sooner than March 2. Bechtel, 35, begins his first stint as a head coach with plenty of hopes for a Colony program that won CIF championships in 2006 and 2007.

"If you look at the success at Colony and the potential there, it's the type of program that can be a force not just in the area but in the entire Inland Empire," Bechtel said. "I don't think winning will so much be the challenge here as it will be to adjust to a new coaching staff and a new philosophy."

Bechtel has spent nearly his entire coaching career in the Inland Empire, beginning with a year as an assistant at Cajon in 1996 before spending 1997-2002 as the quarterbacks coach at Upland. He was hired in 2002 to be the offensive coordinator at Los Osos, where he remained save the 2008 season during which he was the Chaffey College offensive coordinator.

Bechtel was the head coach-in-waiting at Los Osos behind Tom Martinez, the Grizzlies' inaugural head coach.

"My phone was blowing up all day with people asking me why I would leave if I was the next guy at Los Osos," Bechtel said. "It was a tough decision - I've had other opportunities since I've been at Los Osos - but I felt like this was the perfect fit with my philosophy. Tom (Martinez) is a young man. He's got plenty of years left and I didn't want to be the one to push him out."

Tossing around a few candidates for the recently vacated Colony High School head coaching position...

Matt Bechtel: As some of the comments have mentioned, Los Osos High School's offensive coordinator seems the hottest assistant coach in the Inland Valley. If he's not playing the role of Texas' Will Mushcmap to Los Osos head coach Tom Martinez's Mack Brown, Colony might be a good fit for a young up and coming coach like Bechtel. After a year at Chaffey College, the effect Bechtel had in his return to Los Osos last season was obvious. Having graduated three-year starting quarterback Richard Brehaut to UCLA and do-everything running back Arby Fields to Northwestern, Los Osos surged to the CIF championship game in no small part because of Bechtel.

Eric Martinez: The Upland defensive coordinator has not only been to four consecutive CIF-SS Central Division champioinship games (emerging on the winning side of three of them), he has gone twice as Colony's defensive coordinator. After winning titles with the Titans in 2006 and 2007, he coordinated the Upland defense that carried the Highlanders to the 2009 CIF title. His ties to Colony coupled with his uncanny run of success seem to make him an obvious candidate.

John Kuslieka: The former Alta Loma head coach whose name staff writer Pete Marshall brought up is famaliar with the area. In eight years at Alta Loma before resigning last season, Kuslieka compiled a 36-37-1 record, the last seven seasons of which were in the ultra-competitive Baseline League. Kuslieka seems to have the right mix of a hard-line attitude and motivational approach that might work well at Colony.

After two CIF championships in his four years at Colony High School, head football coach Anthony Rice resigned Tuesday, with his sights set on the head coaching job at Pomona High School.

Rice, 35, desires an administrative position, something that appears difficult to obtain at Colony amidst the financial crisis. His Jan. 25 application for the Pomona head coaching position isn't Rice's only link to the job, according to former Pomona head football coach John Brown.

After one year as coach, Brown resigned Jan. 8 on the premise that Rice was offered the Pomona head coaching position behind Brown's back, a claim Rice and Pomona principal Roger Fasting denied. Rice said he was never offered the head coaching position, but shortly after the season ended in November, Pomona athletic director Tom Sweeney contacted him about an offensive coordinator position under Brown.

Brown's resignation and Rice's application for the Pomona head coaching position are not related, according to Rice.

"It's very much a coincidence," Rice said. "Everybody can say what they want, but I have to go through the same process as everybody else that applied for the job. Let the naysayers fall where they may."

Chino High School didn't have to look far for its new head football coach. Matt McCain, who will retain his athletic director position at Chino, will be the fourth head coach of the Cowboys in the last six years, pending board approval that can come no earlier than Feb. 18.

The Chino graduate will replace the departed Greg Setlich, who went 2-18 in his two seasons at the helm following a two-year stint by Manny Saiz that netted seven wins.

"We've been through some challenging times recently, but there's a rich history," McCain said. "I think we can get it back on track. I think a lot of our kids at Chino. Chino High School is a great place to work and coach. Expectations are high."

McCain has been a large part of that rich history, playing for and coaching under John Monger during the legendary coach's 19-year tenure at the school.

Webb High School football coach Robbie von Pertz is resigning his position due to medical concerns a season after leading Webb to its first playoff appearance since the program returned to 11-man football in 1998.

"The kids were devastated to hear the news of his departure, and while of course sorry to have to accept Coach von Pertz's resignation, we understand the reasons for it and wish him the best of luck going forward," Webb athletic director Stephen Wishek said in an e-mail. "He has built a solid foundation for the next coach to build upon."

Pomona High School football coach John Brown resigned Jan. 8 on the premise that the school offered his job to Colony fourth-year head coach Anthony Rice soon after Brown's first and only season head coach. Rice said that in a conversation about two months ago with Pomona athletic director Tom Sweeney, Rice's friend and former colleague, Sweeney floated the idea of Rice joining Pomona's coaching staff as the offensive coordinator under Brown.

"I was never offered (Brown's) job," Rice said Tuesday. "Tom (Sweeney) was talking to me about being the offensive coordinator and I just laughed it off. It was kind of a joke... I'm already a head coach, so why would I go be an offensive coordinator? He was kind of serious about it but I just laughed it off."

The Chino Valley Unified School District and Ayala High School girls basketball coach Mel Sims have confirmed that assistant coach Nick Masi resigned for "personal reasons." Neither Sims nor the district would give details as to the "personal reasons." Masi was in his second season as Sims' assistant and served as a substitute teacher in the district. Off-campus junior varsity coach Leonard Guinn will serve double duty as JV coach and varsity assistant. "You can't find another coach and get board approved this late in the season," Sims said.

Former Pomona High School football coach John Brown's statement that the Pomona administration contacted other coaches about replacing him as early as the middle of his first and only season as the head coach was not substantiated by those he said were contacted.

Brown said Colony head football coach Anthony Rice was offered his job after the season and Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton was contacted about his job in the middle of the season. When reached Friday, both Rice and Layton said they weren't contacted about or offered the head football coaching job by Pomona High School.

Both Layton and Rice, who graduated from Pomona Unified School District's Ganesha High and Garey High, respectively, acknowledged knowing many in and around Pomona's football program. Layton was an assistant coach on the 1996 Pomona staff with Brown.

"I never got a phone call from anybody at Pomona and I've never been offered a job at Pomona," Layton said. "I'm sure if my name pops up - I'm a product of Pomona Unified, I coached there for a year and I'd like to think I've had some success recently - it's because my name pops up in a lot of places."

Pomona High School head football coach John Brown resigned Friday after discovering the school, unbeknownst to Brown, was searching for his replacement as early as the middle of this season, his first as Pomona's head coach. Brown said Pomona contacted Colony head coach Anthony Rice after the season and Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton mid-season about the Pomona head coaching job.

Pomona principal Roger Fasting, however, denied that the school contacted anybody about Brown's job.

"None of that is true," Fasting said. "His letter came as a surprise to us because he hadn't talked to us about resigning. I'm not sure where he got his information or how he heard that story."

Said Brown: "I'm telling you he's lying. They interviewed another guy for my job in the middle of the season. They told me the only reason they're doing this is because they want an on-campus coach. And that's fine, but don't go about it like this."

Chino High School football coach Greg Setlich resigned Wednesday faced with principal Adam Bailey's decision "to go in a different direction." The Chino graduate who greatly improved the Don Lugo program in his previous stop, won his first two games at Chino last season but lost 18 straight before resigning.

"I knew going in it was a struggling situation, but I never envisioned going 0-18," Setlich told the Daily Bulletin's Louis Brewster. "Chino has little tolerance for losing and rightfully so. There were a lot of reasons for the lack of on-field success. It was an honor and a privilege to coach at two great schools in the district."

In his 29-year coaching career, Setlich also was head coach at Pico Rivera El Rancho and San Dimas. He left San Dimas after one season to return to Chino as an assistant to John Monger and to work with his late father Pete, also a one-time Chino head coach. That season resulted in a CIF-SS championship for the Cowboys.

Leave a comment. Ask a question. Or e-mail me at clay.fowler@inlandnewspapers.com

A year after he ended his 10-season tenure at Hacienda Heights Los Altos High School, Greg Gano was hired as the Damien High School head football coach on Tuesday.
The replacement for Scott Morrison, who compiled a 32-33-1 record at Damien, won four CIF-SS championships in 10 years at Los Altos. Morrison, who won two Sierra League titles in six years, was fired after a 3-7 season this year.

The last time he accepted a head coaching job, Gano replaced Dwayne DeSpain, who won seven CIF titles at Los Altos.

"When I took over for Dwayne they said `You're nuts,"' Gano said. "If I can follow a legend, the coach of the century, there's not much more pressure than that.

"I know what we have to do here and we've got a solid foundation."

A week removed from a 3-7 season, Scott Morrison was fired as head football coach of Damien High School on Friday. Morrison, a Damien graduate, guided his teams to two Sierra League championships and four playoff appearances in six seasons. Given those accomplishments, Morrison was surprised to be relieved of his duties.

"The administration stepped in because we didn't have a successful enough season," Morrison said. "It's a tough place. You gotta win, and we didn't win this year. We went to the playoffs three years in a row and won two league championships, but apparently that doesn't earn you any wiggle room."

Chino High School head football coach Manny Saiz stepped down on Thursday, two games from completing his second season at the school.
Saiz, reached by phone Thursday night, said the move was for personal reasons.
"I've just got some personal things to figure out right now," Saiz said.
Assistant coach Matt Montello, who will take over on an interim basis, said the move centered on a disagreement.