Arroyo Valley football coach Marcus Soward will be the next head coach at Miller pending approval at Wednesday’s Fontana Unified School District board meeting, Soward said this afternoon.

“I accepted the job about a week ago,” Soward said. “I’ve always had a dream of coaching in the CBL, having gone to Eisenhower High School, and this was the right time and right opportunity to make that move. I knew I wanted to do this someday and Miller is a great place to do it at.”

Soward replaces Jeff Strycula, who was removed from his job less than 24 hours before the Rebels’ season finale with Redlands East Valley in mid-November. Soward has coached at San Bernardino and Arroyo Valley High Schools, compiling a 15-16 record during the last three seasons with the Hawks and guiding Arroyo Valley to the playoffs in 2009. He served as an assistant at Arroyo under Tony DiThomas as well. But that playoff appearance isn’t the thing that Soward is proudest of at Arroyo Valley.

“We had a team GPA of 3.29 last year,” Soward said. “I had some great kids, some hard-working kids at Arroyo Valley and I’m thankful for them. We’ll have a meeting after everything is official and I’m sure some tears will be shed, because I’ll miss those guys.”

That being said, Soward is excited about the opportunity that Miller – which made the playoffs three consecutive years before being eliminated by a coin flip this past season – presents.

“We are just looking to bring the title back west,” Soward said. “It’s been at Redlands East Valley and Redlands for too long and this is where it belongs. And I think we can do it. I was very impressed by the adminstration and there have been some great players come through here like (Green Bay Packers) linebacker Nick Barnett. I’m ready to go.”

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