Glendora football coach Mark Pasquarella resigns …


Glendora coach Mark Pasquarella (far right) resigned Thursday after eight seasons

Glendora High School football coach Mark Pasquarella resigned on Thursday after a successful eight-year run, that included three consecutive Sierra League championships between 2007-’09.

Pasquarella said multiple things factored into his decision, including burnout, family and the opportunity to pursue a chance to become an administrator.

“I kind of think I need a break,” Pasquarella said. “I don’t know if I need a break from being a head coach, I still feel like I can still coach, but I just don’t know if I have the energy to be a head coach at this time.

“In hindsight, I probably did it about a year too late. I was thinking about doing it after last year when we had won three championships in a row. That would have been a good time to go out, but with the league change and (star quarterback) Chad Jeffries coming back for his senior year, I was sitting on it and sitting on it, and it just got to the point where it was too late to do anything.”

Glendora’s football program had been dormant prior to Pasquarella’s arrival in 2003. The Tartans had last won a league championship in 1994, but quickly became one of the area’s most consistent winners under Pasquarella, who finished with a record of 55-33 in his eight seasons.

Glendora started this past season with a 4-1 record entering Baseline League play, but an injury to Jeffries hurt the team’s chances and the Tartans ultimately finished 5-5 and missed the playoffs.

“If you think back to where Glendora was when we took over, then to us ruling the roost for a little bit, we had a good thing going,” Pasquarella said. “The best thing about it is that I think I’m leaving the program in a better condition than it was when I got it.”

Pasquarella was at Damien prior to taking over at Glendora in 2003. Before that, he was the first football coach at Ayala upon its opening in 1990 and led the Bulldogs to three CIF championship games.

Pasquarella’s first head coaching job came at Covina for just one season. Prior to that, he was an assistant at Northview and South Hills, where he coached under Jack Nemzek, who he credits with teaching him most of what he knows.

“He was pretty pivotal in my development as a coach and about preparation,” Pasquarella said. “He was the first coach I coached under and I was with him for six years.”

San Diego St.-bound Glendora QB Chad Jeffries on Pasquarella’s resignation:
I was kind of shocked at first because we had the banquet and he didn’t announce anything there and I thought he was going to come back another year. He was a player’s coach. He would talk to us and try to understand us, and get in our minds and see how we felt about everything before we actually did it. He helped me a lot. All the camps I went to, like the Nike Camp and the Elite 11 camps, he told me about all of that. He always helped me out with different stuff on the field and helped me out with recruiting.

Tribune Player of the Year Chris Solomon makes ESPN Top 150 list for Class of ’12 …

Congrats go out to West Covina’s Chris Solomon, who made the ESPN 150 list of top recruits for 2012. Solomon is listed as a safety prospect on the list. He also plays running back, which is pretty much what won him Tribune Player of the Year honors as a junior last season.

Aram’s take: My take is what’s your take? Do you think Solomon is a D-1 running back? ESPN has him as a safety, which is basically saying he made the list because he’s an athlete. If you watched closely last season, Solomon truly was outstanding on defense.

Sources: San Marino to hire Mike Hobbie (Who?) as next head coach …

Mike Hobbie, who was recently head coach at Roosevelt High in Fresno for four seasons, is expected to be named the new head coach at San Marino next week, according to multiple sources.

Hobbie was once the offensive coordinator University of South Florida, believe it or not, and has been at Roosevelt since 2007 where he has gone 26-19.

San Marino principal Loren Kleinrock did not confirm the hire in an email requesting confirmation, but did say that the school’s verbal offer has been accepted, without saying who accepted it, and that a final decision won’t be made likely until Feb. 21 following San Marino’s next school board meeting.

Hobbie will replace Mike Mooney, who resigned as both football coach and assistant principal toward the end of the first semester after being placed on administrative leave in the middle of last season.

Aram’s take:
Looks like a pretty good hire for the Titans. If you’re wondering why a guy who is doing pretty well up in Fresno would want to come down here and compete in the Rio Hondo League, well, my sources says he’s got family here. Just rememer, Bill Redell was reportedly on the San Marino hiring committee.

Los Altos fires Jim Arellanes after one season …

Los Altos High School fired head varsity football coach Jim Arellanes on Tuesday after just one season at the school.

Arellanes was hired last March to replace Felipe Aguilar, who resigned after two seasons. The Conquerors went 0-10 this past season and Arellanes was relieved of his duties after several meetings with school officials due to the program’s lack of direction based upon clear expectations, according to a statement put out by principal Cheli McReynolds.

“Obviously, I am very disappointed and disagree 100 percent with the decision,” Arellanes said Tuesday night. “This decision was coming from the same people who asked me three different times to apply for this job last year after I turned it down two previous times.

“It was unfortunate because we felt we had made very good strides over the last month and half, since we started our offseason program.”

Arellanes’ firing combined with the recent resignation of Wilson coach Brian Zavala leaves the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District with openings at its two most-storied football schools.

Arellanes, who graduated from El Rancho and played quarterback at Fresno St. before three seasons with the Rhein Fire in NFL Europe, was previously the head coach at Northview where he went 21-22 in four seasons.

“Our focus was not wins or losses, but a passionate ownership of the entire program, a strong commitment of time to our students and the building of relationships with all players, staff, coaches, parents and the community,” McReynolds said in her statement.

Los Altos has fallen on hard times following the resignation of former coach Greg Gano in 2007. Gano won four CIF championships in 10 years at the school. Prior to that, Dwayne Despain won seven CIF titles in 33 years.

Los Altos hasn’t had a winning season since going 8-5 in 2006. Arellanes will keep his teaching job through the remainder of the school year.

Full statement from Los Altos principal Cheli McReynolds: As of today, Jim Arellanes has been removed as head coach of the Los Altos HS football program. This decision was made after several meetings focused on the current state of the program and the lack of direction based upon clear expectations. Our focus was not wins or losses, but a passionate ownership of the entire program, a strong commitment of time to our students and the building of relationships with all players, staff, coaches, parents and the community. We would like to thank Jim Arellanes for his efforts but we strongly believe this is in the best interest of our program. We will begin the search for the next head coach of Los Altos High School immediately.

Statement from Los Altos AD Steve Garcia:
It definitely was not based on wins and losses. If it was wins and losses, you would have probably seen on Nov. 11 we would have had a coaching change. Jim went through the yearly evaluation process and had multiple discussions and the steps to get things to where we want them to be and where these kids, I won’t say should be, but where we want them to be, that process wasn’t where we were going. More than anything else, it’s a difference in philosophies in where we needed to be and how we needed to get there.

Aram’s take: Score another for my sources, but I still just don’t get it. More on that later …

Chew on this …

Oaks Christian coach Bill Redell is on the hiring committee at San Marino High School as the Titans search for their next head coach. Redell is a graduate of San Marino High, so I guess it makes sense in terms of loyalty.