A day after Jon Mack resigned as varsity football head coach at Crespi, the school replaced him with former head coach Troy Thomas, who left Servite to return to his former job.

Mack was 23-9 in those three seasons. There was speculation shortly after the 2012 season that he would not return, but that was put to rest. Crespi is going through administrative changes at the highest level.

Prior to coaching at Crespi, Mack had a strong run at St. Bonaventure.

Aram’s take: Well, news changes fast. This had to be in the works, which is probably the obvious statement of the day. Mack retires one day, Thomas is hired the next. Ooooohhh weeee. I’m trying to figure out what this means for Crespi and the Serra League … and even Bishop Amat on some levels. And who’s gonna go for the Servite job? Or should I say “who’s not?”. Ball’s in Servite’s court now to make a big splash.

Editor’s note: We’re starting a new thing around here at In the Huddle. It’s called “I heard things” … what it will be is a place where latest RUMORS that we think are likely to become fact (or fade away) will be thrown out there as JUST THAT, RUMORS! It will be up to you to figure out whether you believe it or not.

I heard things … It didn’t take long for La Salle’s success last season in football to pay dividends. I did some snooping around/a little birdie told me today about some of the goings on with the Lancers. I was there to cover girls soccer, but you never know what you’re going to fall into.

Anyway, word is that La Salle has picked up a 6-foot-5 wide receiver who played at St. John Bosco last season, a sophomore-to-be QB from Diamond Bar, who was MVP of the JV team last season and a 6-foot-4 QB from Village Christian, who is supposed to start next season.

I’ve got no names, however. But from what I hear things are looking very promising. La Salle was 10-1 last season.

Former Charter Oak, Duarte, St. Paul, Cathedral and now Alemany running back Kurt Scoby has left Alemany just months after enrolling following a shortened junior season at St. Paul. The story was first reported by Fox Sports analyst Greg Biggins and confirmed today by Eric Sondheimer of the L.A. Times.

Scoby never actually played in a game for Duarte, Cathedral or Alemany.

Here are some options/facts/opinions:

– Scoby has already used his sit-out period

– Monrovia should be the favorite of any SGV team to land him

– Scoby and many of his Duarte Hawks teammates (several at M-Town now) will be seniors next season

– The “follow your coach” rule is applicable to any head coach or assistant coach an athlete played for in the PAST 24 months

– Scoby CAN follow Elijah Asante to Santa Margarita with a valid change of residence

– Scoby can play anywhere with a valid change of residence

– The “Scoby was sighted at Amat today” posts are garbage. It means nothing. His girlfriend goes to Amat

– Scoby’s biggest hurdle in EVER playing a down of HS football again is making sure he’s academically eligible

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Scott Morrison has resigned as varsity football head coach at Workman, and according to a source, it’s because he will be named the next head coach at La Puente, replacing Brandon Rohrer, who left for Etiwanda.

Word of Morrison’s resignation came from a job posting on a website that Workman is looking for a new football coach. A source says that he will take over at La Puente, which is also in the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District.

Morrison was formerly the head coach at Damien before being let go after the 2008 season. He took over at Workman in 2010 and went 7-23 in three seasons.

Aram’s take: This one’s a real doozy. So, Morrison is going to leave Workman for rival La Puente. That has to go over real well with the Lobos. Talk about uncomfortable. Many would argue, though, that LP is a much better football program and Morrison is more likely to have success and more talent to work with there. If you’ll recall, Morrison was rumored to be going to both Los Altos and Wilson, which are in the same district, after job openings at both schools in recent years. Now, he’s off to LP. This now means that there’s two jobs open in the Montview — Gladstone and Workman. And here’s the good news for all you interested coaches, the Workman job will come with a teaching position.

Former St. Paul head coach Elijah Asante has joined Harry Welch’s staff at Santa Margarita as an assistant coach.

“Harry Welch offered me to come two years ago,” Asante said. “He told me if that if I ever had the opportunity, he wanted me to coach with him. And of course, this opportunity came up because I was out of a job. He offered for me to come in.

“It’s just such a great program, I went on and took advantage of it.”

Asante was let go by St. Paul in the middle of last season, his first at the school. He closed the season as an assistant coach at Lakewood. Asante previously had a successful run at Carson, where he beat Mater Dei twice, a fact that may prove useful at Santa Margarita.

Asante does not know for sure what his role on Welch’s staff will be. According to him, there are no titles on the Santa Margarita staff like there would be at a typical high school.

“He doesn’t give titles,” Asante said of Welch. “If you look at this program book, everybody is an assistant coach. It’s kind of a smart thing to do because he’s got like four head coaches on his staff.”

Asante remains a teacher at St. Paul, but is unsure if he’ll continue in that role next school year.

Aram’s take: Well, in the ever-growing recruiting/attracting wars taking place in The OC, this is a big coup for Santa Margarita. The way Mater Dei has been “attracting” talent recently, the stakes had gone up and Santa Margarita will need to keep up. And then there’s Servite and Mission Viejo. Yep, it’s a rat race for talent. Asante will certainly help in that department and don’t be surprised if Santa Margarita gets some high-impact kids in this spring/summer.

Former Damien standout wide receiver Travis Eschardies, who was a Tribune All-Area selection in 2006, died early Sunday morning following a car accident on the 10 Freeway in Montclair. He was 24.

Eschardies’ Honda Accord overturned and was hit by a Chevy pick up during the accident. Eschardies, who lived in Pomona, was ejected. He later died on the operating room table at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

Eschardies was a three-varsity player for Damien from 2004-06. He had 64 receptions for 1,115 yards and seven touchdowns in ’06 when Damien went 9-3 and swept the Sierra League. He teamed with All-Area QB Mark Mendrun to form the top pass-catch combo in the area that season.

Eschardies was also a reserve on the Damien basketball team.

Aram’s take: Tragic news. Eschardies still attended Damien games … I recall seeing him on the sidelines either this season or last in his varsity jacket. I will never forget showing up for the Damien-Los Altos game in ’06 and having him say “hey, what’s up, big dog?” during warm ups while I was walking the sidelines. He had swag, as former Time Warner personality Reg Miller put it. I really enjoyed that Damien team and they were the last legit good team the Spartans football program has had. Eschardies won’t be forgotten.

Former San Gabriel head coach Jude Oliva, who resigned last December after three seasons at the school, has joined head coach Pete Karavedas’ staff at Maranatha as offensive coordinator.

Oliva was 17-17 in three seasons at San Gabriel and led the Matadors to the Almont League title in 2011 and a berth in the Mid-Valley Division championship game.

Oliva was named Star-News Coach of the Year after the 2011 season. He was angling for a teaching position at San Gabriel, which never came about and was forced to seek better employment opportunities. Oliva does not currently have a teaching position at Maranatha.

Aram’s take: There were rumors that Oliva would be joining Rick Zepeda’s staff at St. Paul or even headed to Bell Gardens, but him landing at Maranatha is a coup for Karavedas, who is a defensive guy and now just boosted his staff’s offensive expertise. Obviously, Oliva is qualified to be a head coach just about anywhere. Being the Star-News Coach of the Year is a nice thing to have on a resume. So you have to wonder just how much of a long-term thing this will be. If Oliva gets a teaching gig, then he just may be with Karavedas for a while.

Chino Hills has promoted offensive coordinator Matt Bechtel to head coach.

Bechtel, who was offensive coordinator for one season after coming over from Colony, replaces Derek Bub, who resigned after five seasons but will remain the school’s athletic director.

Aram’s take: Yes, it kinda takes the fun out of it when people tell you exactly how things will unfold a year ago and then it happens that way. Nonetheless, Bechtel should do a fine job keeping the Chino Hills pipeline rolling.

Charter Oak defensive lineman Alex Hernandez will play at Western New Mexico next season.

Hernandez was deciding between Western New Mexico, Humboldt St. and APU. Hernandez, who was at Charter Oak for his freshman and sophomore year before transferring to Damien for his junior and then back to Charter Oak for his senior year, recorded 43 tackles and 11 sacks in 2012.

Aram’s take: This website “CityBallers” seems to have quite the interest in Broadus and Bell despite the fact that there’s nothing “city” about Diamond Bar. 20k views on this YouTube video. Man, with Noodles in tow D-Bar is going to be one interesting spectacle to watch this spring/summer. Noodles has to be thinking that if he can somehow be the starting QB and throw to guys like this, then whatever “looks” they’re getting will go to him as well. It’s a way to step into the spotlight or share the spotlight. That’s my take.