REV coach Kurt Bruich glad to be closer to home

Redlands East Valley is used to going on the road. After all, the Wildcats are one of the few large schools in the county without their own stadium on campus, but coach Kurt Bruich is glad the long road trips are behind them, at least until the playoffs.

This week, REV is hitting the road for the third straight week to start the season, but Bruich is looking forward to a more reasonable road trip to Moreno Valley Rancho Verde after trips to West Hills and Ventura the first two weeks.
“We didn’t get back to the school until after midnight, and I’m not getting home until 2 or 3,” Bruich said. “We’re ecstatic it’s only 35 miles.”
REV will play its first “home” game next week in the Citrus Belt League opener against Carter at Citrus Valley High.

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REV’s Kurt Bruich named state coach of the year

Kurt Bruich (in red hat) celebrates with his father Dick after winning the CIF State title.

Kurt Bruich, the coach of the CIF State Division II champion Redlands East Valley football team has been named state coach of the year by CalHiSports.com.

Bruich wins the award for the first time and he and his father Dick (who won the award as Fontana’s coach in 1989) are the first father-son duo to win the award.

The Bruichs are also the only coaches from San Bernardino County to win the award, which dates back to 1930.

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Redlands East Valley will play Clayton Valley in State Finals

Redlands East Valley will play Clayton Valley on Saturday in the StubHub Center in the CIF State Finals.

REV defeated Bakersfield Ridgeview, 59-42, in the CIF Division II State Regional game Dec. 13.

Clayton Valley defeated Oakdale, 28-7, to advance into the finals.

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Has Kurt Bruich learned about coaching in title games from his father?

REV coach Kurt Bruich, right, coaches his team in a practice this week.

Redlands East Valley coach Kurt Bruich has a lot of information at his disposal in the person of his father, Dick Bruich, who won four CIF-SS titles at Fontana and Kaiser.
So what has he learned from his dad about coaching in title games?
“We haven’t really talked about it,” Kurt Bruich said. “When I was playing (in 1987) I wasn’t paying attention to that. Then later, when he was at Kaiser, I was coaching myself.”

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Strycula speaks out about removal

A huge game for the Miller football program took a turn for the bizarre Wednesday night, as Rebel head coach Jeff Strycula was removed from his position via a phone call as a response to an apparent hazing incident involving three of his players.

Those players – quarterback Eric Shufford, defensive end Sean Chaidez and linebacker Jamal Wilson – were held out of the first quarter of Miller’s 21-7 loss to Redlands East Valley Thursday night. Details of the incident have yet to be released, but the punishment that Strycula received for it was far more severe.

“I got a call at 10:35 Wednesday night from the principal (Heather Griggs) telling me I was fired,” Strycula said. “I’ve been an absolute wreck. I went to the hospital last night because I was vomiting, dry-heaving, had high blood pressure, wasn’t eating. This whole thing has just taken a toll on me and my family. I think it’s weird that the players involved were held out a quarter while I was removed from my job.”

Miller was in a win-or-go-home situation against REV, as a win would have given them a Citrus Belt League title while the loss eliminated them from playoff consideration. Assistant coach Mike Farnam, who has worked alongside Strycula both at Miller and at Fontana High School, was made the interim football coach Wednesday night and was given the uneviable task of trying to deal with the chaos.

“You wouldn’t have known what the kids were going through based on the way they played, because they played their hearts out, but last night was stressful,” Farnam said. “There were several different rumors going around and it seemed like everyone had heard something else. To deal with that before a game was terrible. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever had to go through because of my friendship with Jeff and my love for these kids.”

It’s a situation that might not be completely resolved either. Rumors have surfaced that Strycula wasn’t fired and that his removal from the proceedings Wednesday – he was banned from being at the school in any capacity Thursday – was more a suspension than a firing. Neither Griggs nor Miller athletic director John Romagnoli were available for comment Friday. Strycula is treating it as a firing.

“I was told that I was being relieved from my duties as football coach Wednesday night and could not return to school until Monday,” said Strycula, a physical education teacher at Miller. “I haven’t heard anything since then, so I’m assuming that I’m not the Miller football coach.

“I really don’t know if I can even come to work Monday. The stress has already hospitalized me once and I just don’t know if I can deal with teachers and students asking me about what happened and why I’m not the coach. I feel the worst for the kids and their families – I had a good group of kids and had a great time coaching them this year.”

The incident which set in motion this chain of events, which neither Strycula or Farnam would divulge details of due to Fontana Unified School District policy, is the second hazing incident that the Miller program has dealt with in just over a year, as several players were disciplined in 2009 for an incident that was labeled hazing.

While the past 48 hours have been hard on Strycula, there was a glimmer of positivity for his family. His oldest son Andrew, a senior tight end at Redlands East Valley, caught a 21-yard touchdown pass for the game’s final score Thursday, something that Strycula believes that REV coach Kurt Bruich made a point to do.

“I feel that Kurt planned that,” Strycula said. “We’ve been friends for a long time and I had talked to him on Thursday before the game and I’m very happy that Andrew was able to get that opportunity. He’s a good kid who has really had a hard time with this whole situation and I’m glad he was able to have that moment, though I would have loved to have had a chance to shake his hand and tell him ‘good game’ on the field after the game.”

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Dick Bruich helps out San Bernardino

Redlands East Valley coach Kurt Bruich brought his staff in to prep the San Bernardino All-Stars in their Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic matchup with Riverside County. But he also brought in an ace in the hole second to none, as his father, legendary Fontana and Kaiser coach Dick Bruich, will be helping out with the planning.
Continue reading “Dick Bruich helps out San Bernardino” »

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