Abad out as Miller wrestling coach
Another veteran area wrestling coach is out of a coaching job.
Last spring it was Pacific High School's Rick Castro who wound up resigning after all the hubbub over there.
Now it is John Abad, who has been fired as coach at Miller after 12 successful years.
"It's a personnel thing and I can't go into it," said Miller athletic director Dwight Berry, who did say that Abad was "removed" as coach. Abad is still a teacher at Miller.
"The job is open and we're flying it," Berry said.
In an overall sense, the bigger story is probably that the person who made the change, principal Tim Sullivan, is no longer at Miller.
Sullivan, who became principal at Miller last spring, has "taken another position" - said acting principal Kimberly MacKinney.
MacKinney said she would check into Abad's removal and get back to me, but she has not called yet.
"There was a new principal (Sullivan) and he made some changes," Abad said. "I really can't say anything more about it."
Pacific's Castro was taken aback by the move.
"They're losing an excellent coach who was always there for the kids," Castro said. "He always had guys move on (in the post-season). Losing him would be a loss for anyone's program."
Abad was a CIF-SS wrestling champion at Pacific. He also wrestled at UCLA.
I remember him when he was at Bloomington just before he was at Miller. Very classy person. He commanded respect but showed it as well. Sounds like a political move reminiscent of the actions that took place at Fohi a few years ago.