Former Banning football coach Ed Lalau is returning to South Bay.
Gardena High announced Wednesday that Lalau will become the school's next football coach.
Lalau takes over for longtime coach Marshall Jones, who steppped down in November. Jones had a 59-65-1 record in 10 seasons, but was 2-18 in the last two years.
But Lalau had to get initial clearance from two important people in his life: his wife Nina and 4-year-old daughter Sia.
"They're my bosses, and they gave me the green light," Lalau said. "And to get an opportunity like this at such a great community and a great school. I never thought this job would open up because Marshall had done such a great job all these years."
Principal Kevin Kennedy said Lalau will be formally introduced to the team today during a special assembly at the school.
"Ed's a take-charge kind of guy," Kennedy said. "We felt he fit the criteria we were looking for: someone to instill values in the student athlete, someone with a winning attitude right away, someone with an outstanding offensive and defensive package and someone very organized.
"We're looking forward to Ed taking the reigns and for a new era in Gardena football."
Kennedy said Lalau was one of 21 candidates who applied for the job. The initial applicant pool was narrowed to 12, and each of those 12 had interviews. Then Gardena chose five candidates to interview again.
Lalau narrowly beat Locke coach Wayne Crawford.
"It was a very tough decision," Kennedy said.
Lalau has been a proven winner, claiming the 1999 L.A. City Section Invitational title and the 2000 City Championship title at Banning.
Lalau returned to Banning in mid-season as a co-coach in 2005 and helped salvage what appeared to be a lost season when Coach Randy Block was forced out after two games.
Lalau said he is looking forward to competing in the Marine League again, particularly against Banning legend Chris Ferragamo, who Lalau played for in high school in the mid-1980s.
"I'm excited to be back, especially in the Marine League. They have some great coaches and staffs in the Marine League. It doesn't get any better than that," Lalau said.
Good luck to Coach Ed and Gardena Football!!!
I bees a alumies of garsdena an en I be tinking dis boyz do a'rite/.
My Son is on the Team and I do hope this guy does a better job than jones. GOOD LUCK COACH ED!
go coach ed!!!!!!
NO PADDLED****ING! GO COACH ED!!!!
that's right spread that pilot pride all over. Lalau was my coach from 1995-1998. The man can get the job done. Make them panthers bleed red and black.
To the only person on this earth who shares my name... congrats cuzn! Gardena is in for an awesome season.
he is a lousy coach.. dont be fooled... doesnt know anything about offense or schemes to score points.. that tough image does not work anymore..
0-10 fo next 3 years until a guy that can get it done!
OK this is cool i hope he gets the job done at gardena we have been waiting for this for a while also i hope he does not use that BS offense that banning uses
ed would be 500 coach in pop warner.. this guy cant coach...
ed is a pop warner coach.. another bad city city high school higher... who makes these decisions to pick these fat guys..Banning is a thing of the past glory days in the 80's. the area has no more talent..
OK this is cool but dont just think this is just any old football coach hire because we take our football very serious here in GARDENA also....so to coach Lalau good luck and you BETTER make some improvments this season
Gardena has never been any good since that dump was built.. Pete carroll could npt make a winner out of that dump.. ed is a joke.. gardena has always and will always be a third place finisher like narbonne...Ed is a pop warner coach and only got the job to earn a pay check.
Congrats Coach Ed. Good Luck with the Panthers, we know you'll do well there.
To the Gardena Football Team and fans, you're in for a big change for the best. Coach Ed is and will be a great Coach.
Good Luck to Coach Ed and the Gardena Panthers.
I'll never forget how Lalau tried to weasel his way into the Banning job after Block was fired. What a political hack! He isn't even a teacher! When is Gardena ever going to learn? When is the last time they had a good coach?
Lalau also tried to slide into the Carson job, and the Washington job --this is THREE MARINE LEAGUE TEAMS!! No loyalty whatsoever to a program --just an obese, greasy weasel.
How ignorant this young generation is. Gardena was more powerful then you could have possibly imagined in the 1960's . Do some research gardenafanatic.
Before the advent of no parenting, out of control animal like birth rates, massive immigration, we would get 10 to 15,000 people for showdown's with Carson and Banning. You can't possibly understand how nice a city, school, and football program it was then.
Long live the Mohican's.
dont count football in the 60's high schools were segerated then.. Gardena was all white in the 60's.. Thats how petros father got to play college football because they were not allowing but a certain number of black players to play in the PAC 8.. or anywhere in the 60's.. maye two to 5 black players on the whole team.. what a shame.. im white and played in the 60's and it was shameful it was like that.
In the last 30 years, Gardena has never had a Head Coach with a Championship on his resume. You should be thnakful to have Ed Lalau as your Coach.
Segregated?
There just wasn't that many blacks in Gardena/Carson/Banning yet. I don't remember Stan Smith telling us we could only have X amount of black and white players.
Carson/Banning in the late 60's into the 70's served the perfect lesson for America in what benefit diversity can bring. We all have strong aspects in each different culture, these two high school teams were remarkably diverse and incredibly tough to beat. Its unfortunate that most of the white population is gone from these schools now. The bottom line is WE need each other in this country, to much of one thing is not good.
Lay off John Papadakis he was a good LB. He's pretty humble about his playing days and gives credit where credit is due.
Don't try to deny blacks were not allowed to compete in the 60'S with SouthBay teams. Coaches did not go out and welcome black kids onto the campuses of these schools. More than 70% of the black kids did not live in the area than and now.. The banning,carson,gardena coaches did not reach out and give the black kids a chance to play.As a white athletic during those times I wanted to compete against those guys and every thing was Segregated than.. I grew up in torrance and Blacks were not allowed in Torrance north or South.
You're talking about an amazing period of change in our country. When you say South Bay teams you must mean west of the 110 and south of the 405. I can't speak for the Torrance, PV, and beach schools. All I know is the Marine league was way ahead of the times back then. I doubt there was any place in the country that was as diverse. Pedro and Narbonne were a little more lily white then the others, but as a whole every race was well represented well in our league then. Gardena even had a number of excellent Japanese players that went through and of course Carson was the birth place of the Samoan high school athlete on the American mainland.
The Carson, Banning, and Gardena teams of the late 60's into the 70's were spectacularly diverse.
Torrance and Beach areas were 20 years behind us. If you ever have free time check the old Daily Breeze archives for the stories of our games. When Carson, Gardena, and Banning played one another it was 10,000+ easy. No one had to worry about getting shot, people had better values and their kids were far more respectful.
lET A POP WARNER COACH GET A CHANCE.. HOW ABOUT THE OTHERS PUTIING UP THE SAME NUMBERS!! tHE CONFERENCE IS VERY BAD SO HE WILL GET A CHANCE TO WIN LIKE THE OTHERS COACHES WHO CANT PUT TOGETHER WINNING SEASONS.. WHO CARES HE IS NOT READY IN YOUR EYES! 500 FOOTBALL IS GREAT FOR CITY FOOTBALL!
Coach ed lose some weight! show a example how even you are disclpline to do something so when those city kids start whinning you can show by example.
coach ed is not a good coach! he is a special team coach at best..
Who cares if coach Ed is a pop warner coach the varsity team has some good coaches on the sidelines . Who also coach pop Warner on their free time I would know they coached my son and made him one of the best jv players that gardena has to offer and it doesn't matter if you coach pop warner or college level! as long as that coach can do the best job he can! I saw no pride or commitment from Jones last season. So this should be a better season under those friday nite lights!
jjjjjjj
yea good luck at that team this year but dont get it wrong the panthers of gardena have and always will be better than those damn pilots
Check the scoreboard..Lalau has 2 titles as a coach and played for a winner at Banning. What the hell does Gardena have to complain about.
BANNING MAN! ED IS JOKE OF A COACH
REALLY OMG AND UR DADD!O IS THE GOOD ONE!!!!
all i know is we pita rolled gardena,san pedro,and carson with ed calling plays.good luck coach ed but you still gonna get worked when you play the house.
Gardena was a footbal power up to 1969, they had some very good teams, Carson and Banning took over in the 70's, Carson and Banning had there share of great black players who help them win many games and city title.
I differ to everyone else's comments. I believe Ed will do a great job with these kids. Come on, Washington is improving and getting back on their feet...i believe it's time for Gardena to do damage. I dont think they'll be able to handle schools like Carson, Narbonne, and Pedro, but they gotta start somewhere. Good luck Coach Ed. Everyone here in Carson is supporting you all the way!
When did Gardena High change from the Mohicans to the Panthers? Did it have to do with the native american ruling? Sorry folks been away from the south bay for 15 years! Go Hawthorne Cougars! Wait, did they change their mascot too? lol
this thread is hilarious. who cares if ed is a good coach or not. many of you jokesters believe that what was there before was actually any good. read the previous posts. gardena hasnt done anything since the 60's. thats a joke. theyre a joke of a football program. so ed lalau is gonna what? make it worse? ahahahaha, pleeeeze. the program is already a joke, and all that is needed is anyone. ANYONE to try somethin. because somethin is better than what theyve had since the 60's. so stop the complaining and hating on ed lalau, that program is already at the bottom. all you folks are doin is beatin up on an already dead and shi*** football program. and all your complaining makes you look sad, sorry and pitiful. its like beating on someone already dead, down and buried.
Gaston Green is rolling in his grave....lol. Oh wait! he's still alive. j/k
many people are complaining that coach lalau cannot coach at the high school level, give the coach lalau an opportunity to show his expertise. If he is successful congratulate him, if he is not than share with him your expertise, coaching high school sports is very demanding and every coach should be given all the support.
Y'all need to stop all these silliness about coach ed. Obviously the man can coach, he does have a championship on his resume. Give the man a chance to coach. All you haters, just stop it already. Good Luck Coach Ekeuati Lalau....
I Known coach ED just about all my life...since the boys and girls Club to The good ole days at Banning High...i know that he is a good guy more imporantly a good coach..so u know he will do well at Gardena...but i know that he WILL ALL Ways be a PILOT!!!! Good luck Coach
Pnut
No accountability! No loyalty! No Integrity! No Class! Only initiates, but doesn't complete! Only good thing is BS'ing. Not a good role model, cannot even finish school or pay his bills! Will only say what you want to hear. Very manipulative!
To all the haters on this blog....as you may think you know Coach Ed, apparently ya'll don't because he don't give a damn what anybody say or think of him....he's going to do the job and do it right. So don't hate because he's coaching at Gardena and not no sorry Banning High.
Watch out and Beware Marine League, Coach Ed is back. lol.
Good luck Coach Ed and the Panthers!!!
Wow stonecold, you know all these because you live with Coach Ed? umm. Get a life...
Good luck Coach Ed
All of you making "personal attacks," be a man and step up, type your "real name." You guys are all cowards. Stating your opinion is one thing, getting personal is another. I don't know Ed but I hope he does well to shut all you haters up!! Go Panthers!!
Good luck Coach Ed at Gardena High. There will always be detractors and doubters in life. Ed allow for all the negativity thats been said to be a real stimulus to you, your staff, and the players to come together to get the football program turned around GHS and back on the winning track...Go Panthers...Malo Lava!!!
did ted landers from Serra sign with A d1 college
That's awesome news. I use to go to Gardena High School back in the early 80's when the mascot was the "Mohicans". Congratulations to Ed Lalau in becoming the new coach for Gardena High School.
go coach Lalau \m/
coach Ed Lalau is the best coach i had in a long time he work us hard and stay on us about doin are work in the class room and to never give up.I play for him now, we are doin good this year cuz of him and of all the coaches he bring to the school and i love playing for him and its alot more 2 say about him but got to go to sleep got a game 2morrow..
Russell Lablanc #61
Why don't you learn how to spoke and write russell before you open you're mouth.