Bancroft new Murrieta Valley offensive coordinator; Hunt takes over defense

Rich Bancroft, 36, is the new offensive coordinator for the Murrieta Valley football team, Bancroft said.

He resigned as the head coach at Moreno Valley Canyon Springs after last season, stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family which had just expanded due to the birth two months ago of son Asher.

But Bancroft got a deal he could not refuse from Murrieta Valley, he said. He will be a physical education teacher at the school at a higher rate of pay and will run the offense. Better yet, the Murrieta Valley campus is just 15 minutes from the Menifee location where the Bancrofts are building a new home (they currently live in Moreno Valley).

"I'm getting a bump in pay as a P.E. teacher and it's a sizable amount," Bancroft said. "Plus, I will not have the responsibilities of being a head coach. I wasn't going to coach for at least a year, but it's not every day the Murrieta Valley district calls and offers a pay raise, and so I thought I'd better take it.

It's a nice situation and the staff is very knowledgeable. I wanted to get back to coaching eventually anyway, I just didn't think it would be this soon."

Bancroft also said Stan Hunt, already on the Murrieta Valley campus, is the new defensive coordinator under new coach Greg Ireland. Hunt was the defensive coordinator at Corona Centennial last season.