BREAKING NEWS: Albert Rodriguez named head coach at South Hills …

South Hills High School promoted offensive coordinator Albert “Fuzz” Rodriguez to varsity football head coach on Tuesday.

Rodriguez replaces Steve Bogan, who resigned after a 19-year stint that saw the program win four CIF championships. Rodriguez was brought on the South Hills staff by Bogan in 2006 and has been offensive coordinator since ’07.

“I’m a South Hills guy,” said Rodriguez, who graduated from South Hills in 1996. “I grew up in this area. I’m a Covina Viking, West Covina Bruin, went to Barranca and Sierra Vista, then I went to South Hills. So, it’s awesome. I can’t believe it. You have to pinch me right now, I’m excited.”

Rodriguez takes over a program that has fallen on hard times after going 3-7 in each of the past two seasons and missing the playoffs. Part of that can be attributed from the bump in league and playoff division South Hills got before the 2010 season. The Huskies have also been on the short end of the transfer pendulum, both losing players and not getting new ones to be eligible right away.

On top of that, Rodriguez follows in the footsteps of a legend in Bogan, who won 172 games and 13 league championships during his tenure.

“I have no problem with the league,” Rodriguez said of the Sierra League, in which South Hills plays. “If you take a look back at the past two years, we’re there in games, but we just have to finish. I think through hard work, we’re going to be there and put ourselves in position to win football games.

“What coach Bogan has done at South Hills is just awesome. There’s no replacing the guy. The No. 1 rule in coaching is you never want to replace a legend, but shoot, someone has to do it.”

Rodriguez is working on putting together a coaching staff with finding a defensive coordinator his top priority. Rodriguez will continue to call the plays on offense.


Aram’s take:
Coach Rodriguez is very well respected by everyone I’ve talked to. He has a very difficult assignment ahead of him with the Huskies talent level having dropped since the glory years and the bump in competition that comes with playing in the Sierra League, where if you’re lucky enough to qualify the postseason is spent in the Inland Division.

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UPDATED: Kurt Scoby rumors: Transferring to Amat? Staying at Charter Oak? What’s going on here???

The Kurt Scoby rumors are flying at full force AGAIN. Listen, he’s a great kid with tons of upside, but it’s getting ridiculous for me to chase leads on a sophomore. But that’s part of the job, sadly.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE

11:53 a.m.: Word from Charter Oak is that Scoby is staying put. Hopefully that’s the end of that.

TUESDAY UPDATE

9:10 a.m.: From what I’m able to gather, Scoby is still enrolled at CO. Carry on with your days.

Here’s what happened on Monday:

10:31 a.m.: Aram arrives at the Tribune only to be greeted in the parking lot by a non-reporter co-worker who tells him “Hey, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you and Fred all weekend. Charter Oak has some stud running back who transferred to Bishop Amat.”

10:32 a.m.: Aram, still in a fog, says “Scoby? Is his name Scoby?” And the unidentified non-reporter co-worker says “That’s his name. I heard from a guy who trains him at Bulldog Gym in Glendora that he’s going to Bishop Amat. Done deal.”

10:33 a.m.: Steve Ramirez lets myself and the unidentified non-reporter co-worker in the backdoor and in the process asks what the commotion is about.

10:33 1/2 a.m: Aram tells Stevie R. what the unidentified non-reporter co-worker told me, to which Stevie R. kinda pauses to process what he just heard before acting like he heard nothing at all and returning to his desk. OK, fine.

11 a.m.: Unidentified non-reporter co-worker pops by Aram’s desk and AGAIN says what he heard and to trust him. Which I respectfully cannot do.

11:01 a.m.: I text Charter Oak offensive coordinator Dom Farrar with what I heard from the unidentified non-reporter co-worker and I’m still waiting for a reply … which could mean it’s true, but it could also mean that all the CO coaches are sick of answering about these rumors.

6:30 p.m.: Aram checks his work email and there’s an email from a known-blogger who has ZERO relation to the unidentified non-reporter co-worker and it says the same thing — Scoby to Amat.

6:31 p.m.: Aram sees a second email from the same known-blogger, who again is not the unidentified non-reporter co-worker, and it says something to the effect that Scoby is not going to Amat, but he’s out of CO.

6:40 p.m.: Aram calls Amat coach Steve Hagerty and interrupts his home life (not a good thing if you’re me) and Hagerty says Scoby is not Amat and that this is the first he’s heard of such a thing.

Aram’s take: So there you have it. I’m pretty sick of the Scoby rumors right now. I’ve heard everything from him going to Monrovia (during last season) to now him going to Amat. I don’t have a Facebook account (I’m 36), so I don’t know about all the rumors that fly about Scoby there, but I hear they’re pretty spectacular. Don’t get me wrong. The kid is great. He’s very entertaining and I like talking to him. And of course he’s great on the field. But this whole transfer/rumor stuff is getting old. I’m sure some of you have heard a lot of these rumors and probably more, so perhaps this is nothing new.

Amat signers: Ajee Montes (SMU) and Jalen Moore (Eastern Washington) … CONGRATS TO BOTH … and please tell me about any others …

Bishop Amat football players Ajee Montes and Jalen Moore are expected to sign with SMU and Eastern Washington, respectively on National Signing Day on Feb. 1.

Congrats to both players and their families.

Please let me know about any other players and where they’re set to sign.

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How the hell am I supposed to diet when this happens? FIVE GUYS opens in West Covina …


Unreal.

I had heard things about Five Guys so I decided to try it back in 2010 before an Amat boys hoops playoff game that I was covering in Lawndale. I did what any normal warm-blooded American male would do, I hit up Five Guys in Carson. And naturally, when I got to the game that night the first thing everyone asked me was “How was Five Guys?”.

Anyway, now there’s one in West Covina at 1455 Plaza Drive. It is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

Aram’s take: Although I do like In-N-Out, it’s vastly overrated. I liked Five Guys the one time I had it, but even I will admit that it probably can’t be consumed as often as In-N-Out. Anyway, Fred and I (maybe Miggy and Stevie R.) will have to do some representing down there. Hope to see some of you there when we do.

Follow me on Twitter @ChemicalAT