Interesting column by Bob Keisser that will run in Wednesday's Press-Telegram. Get a sneak peek right here:
Raul Lara has the largest coaching staff in the CIF-Southern Section.
Each game, he has his official assistants on the field and in the press box, plus the benefit of 4,000
Lara has been around long enough
When Friday's highly competitive and entertaining game was over, the werewolves that weren't cast in
Walking down the steps from the press box, I casually listened to what the fans were saying, and wanted to put my hands over the ears of some of the children in the crowd. Such language. Then I got on the field and realized what I thought was a brisk wind was actually the second- and third-guessing whizzing around the sidelines.
Like the whole Poly-Dylan Lagarde-Los Alamitos-Dylan Cook saga, I wanted to remind all of these fine people that this was high school football, a classroom in cleats, and that digressing on the coach's abilities and lamenting a dropped pass by a junior or a missed tackle by a sophomore was sort of like rubbing that D or F in their face.
Such is life. Lara has a grip on it, and he has the final say when it comes to what the kids hear at game's end.
"I told several people and the kids that I believe this team has learned the most of any football team we've had here, because we've been through so much adversity, and we didn't quit in the face of it and instead kept working and got better," Lara said.
"What we accomplished is getting a young team to understand what it takes to play at Poly and what it takes to win big games. These kids learned lessons that will benefit them for the rest of their life and will set a pattern for how this team works this off-season and how it will perform next season."
Lara doesn't spend a lot of time worrying about the chorus, usually only when someone asks him this question. He knows that the team's success --
He does pose this response: How did this team get better if there wasn't some good coaching? Poly was crushed by Servite in the season opener, 30-7, opened the season 1-3, went through a quarterback change that saw the sophomore who lost his job quit the team, and then had its record league winning streak snapped by Lakewood.
By season's end, they had knocked off Los Alamitos in the playoffs and lost to Servite again, this time in a game that came down to which team eventually ran out of time.
Unlike past Poly teams, the '09 team didn't have a lot of game-changers
There were answers to the thorniest questions left over from Friday.
Answer: Clay is generously listed at 5-11 and 175, and the kind of hits a receiver takes are different than those of a back. He had only five carries in the first half and finished with 15 for 135, including his 64-yard burst for a touchdown that gave Poly the lead with four-plus minutes left.
But that's not the visual Lara remembers. "If you saw how beat up this kid was, you'd know why we played other (backs)," he said. "The trainers pulled his shirt up at halftime and I went over to see why, and he had tons of scratches and bruises on his back from where Servite players grabbed him and hit him.
"He wasn't ready to be a 30-carry running back. Plus, when we use him in the backfield, we lose our best receiver
What was the rational for his Bill Belichick moment when he ran a fake punt from his own 24 in the third quarter?
"We decided before the game that we'd take some gambles," he said. "We were supposed to run the fake on our first punt, but it was fourth-and-long, and then it was blocked.
"We knew backed up that they'd come after us, so we called the fake. (Alex Roniss) had a huge hol
Lara said there were other moments like that. A missed block on a fake field goal left the play a yard short of a first down, and Chris Leachman threw to a short receiver on the last drive when he had a wide-open receiver deep.
There was also the phantom pass interference penalty on a fourth down incompletion by Servite that extended the Friars' game-winning drive, but he's not going to gripe too much about the officiating in a game that was played at 100 miles per hour and featured fierce hitting.
"It was one of those games where if everything had gone right, we win," Lara said. "It also was a game I could walk away from and think that maybe Servite is destined to win it all."
All he really knows is that Poly will be better for the experience. No one will take championships for granted, for a while, and he will return a lot of starters, especially on defense. "I told everyone at the start of the season that this would be a difficult season," he said. "I'll tell anyone who asks that we'll be back next season."
Including, one presumes, all of his unpaid assistants.
Coach Lara by far is one of the best coaches in the nation. Big deal they had an "average" season. Poly is too good of a program with a lot of un-tapped talent and they will be back to claim their place. They may not win every game every year, but they will always be in the mix and have a good program and staff.
Leave Coach Lara alone, every program has off year(s) and he has done more than any other recent Poly coach and he will get the team back to championship form. It's sad how some Ploy fans want his head for losing a few games and not winning them all. No team is ever expected to win every game, sooner or later they will lose.
This year seems to be Lakewood's year, so let them have it. They deserve it after all these years of being Poly's little step brother. It will be good for Poly to have a good Moore league challenge every year now. I’m sure Coach Lara will appreciate and accept the challenge from Coach McNeil and Lakewood as well as others.
So all you "fair weather" fans out there, leave Coach Lara and the young team alone. If you’re a true fan show your support to the team and the program, win or lose. Poly is not dead, they will be back with a vengeance and better than ever.
Great Article Bob. I am glad you wrote the article to really state true facts about Lara, the football team, and its fans.
I was a part of the fans who critized Lara this year, but deep down when I thought about the big picture of the Poly program I knew I was wrong. Everyone wants to critize something when things aren't going well, especially when fans are accustom to winning every year. Poly fans are just as spoiled as USC football fans. We expect to win it all every year. You can only have one championship team once a year. It's very difficult to win period. Ask the high school football teams who have not won in decades or who have never won. They would love to win just one championship.
What Poly fans and Poly haters should appreciate is the fact that Poly does not have the resources that their competition has. Poly competes with well financed private high schools and they compete with wealthy public schools in Orange County every year. Let's be honest, we don't have near the booster programs that any of those schools have, and you need money to keep your program going. Inspite of all that, Poly, a public school in the inner city of Long Beach still excels. How could you hate a school like that? Remember Verbum Dei in Watts? A school in one of the worst areas in Southern California, that had the best basketball program in California. How could you not be behind a school like that.
I knew it would be a difficult football season for the team, and I was excited to see how they would progress through all the adversity. I was very pleased with the way Poly ended the season, just one bad call away from being one game from the championship. That is not bad.
Poly fans or any fan should understand that winning is not easy. You have to be good,and sometimes lucky (Servite lucky on call)to win. Do you know how hard other teams play to beat the Lakers, the Yankees, USC, the Celtics,and Poly? It is never easy for these teams to win, and yet they keep having winning seasons. Poly keeps winning, even with a large target on their back. Not to mentioned the skewed officiating year after year.
Some Poly fans may not be happy with they way Lara coaches, but he wins, maybe not all the championships, but a lot more than the other coaches out there. You know the say "Be careful what you wish for." We know we can win with what we have. I don't think Poly fans will take winning for granite for a while. This season may just be a blessing in disguise. We will see next season.
Lara is obviously a good coach. Bad coaches don't win as much as he's won no matter how much talent they have. Granted, he has resources that others don't have but he also has problems and challenges that others don't have. Long Beach provides for a different demographic which in of itself is a challenge for educators. As a coach/educator in Long beach you are forced to manage issues that go far and beyond simply teaching the X's and O's of sports. This is the trade-off of having a deep talent pool. Lara seems to embrace those challenges and has been supremely successful. It takes a special individual to coach in Long Beach. Give him his due.
wrong, good players , make good coaches..ask joe torre when he was a met and brave manager...hmm
poly is overated..period..the win moore league...big deal...moore league is weak..the pac 5 has what 16 teams..in playoffs...how many pac 5 rings does poly have?? years ago the best from all over would play..know they dont..
poly is great in its little local area...that it...not the nation...
I too have questioned Lara's play calling. I too however, appreciate him as a coach and person.
Lara, the human being, loves the Poly football program and kids. This man has given us over 20 years of his life. For what? Almost nothing in return.
Is Lara's play calling the best? No! Why not? Because he's not perfect. He's just like you and me.
Yes We/Poly loss 6 games this year, 5 came from teams still in the playoff and State Championship hunt. Ocenside 12-0, St.Boniventue 11-1, Servite 11-1, and Lakewood 11-1 are all ranked in the State and National Polls.
If we didn't give Lara credit for the wins, then we can't blame him for the loss.
"We will be back"
Lakewood had a young team last year, and still made it back to the semi-finals.Pathetic Poly grown-ups who up to after the Millikan game were calling for Coach Lara's head,are now saying sorry. ha ha ha what a joke. Good job Poly players for working hard and not acting like your adult role models in the stands.
Coach Lara IS a good coach. He's a good DEFENSIVE coach. Not a good OFFENSIVE coach. PERIOD.
I have posted on this blog and I can honestly say that if coaching was as easy as the 4,000+ Poly coaches in the stands say it is, I challenge them to takeover the program for 1 year.
Kudos to Coach Lara for taking a very young team deep into the playoffs.
Can't wait to do battle with the Jackrabbits next year.
to the guy who asked how many pac 5 rings Poly have....its 4 in the last 8 years. can you name any other school that has that? im pretty sure the Pac 5 has all the southern powerhouses still in it: Mission Viejo, Mater Dei, Edison, Orange Lutheran, name one other conference with that strength? and how come when Poly travels across the country to play teams, they win?
Coach Lara is the BEST!!!
Shadowman,
I hope the readers have learned something this season.The anger and hate served up here makes no sense what so ever.
Its o.k. to support your team but it isn't o.k. to "coach from afar" cowards.
The three basic elements in all sports:
A.COACHES COACH
B.PLAYERS PLAY
C.FANS APPRECIATE WHAT THEY HAVE DONE AND CHEER THEM ON.
If this is to hard to understand refer to part C.
Shadowman,Keis,and The Burls thanks for the great coverage you gave us this season.
Happy holidays.
Anonymous, do know anything!!! How many rings does Poly have? What's up with you, don't you know how to read!!! They have seven titles in the last 12 years!! The Pac-5 championship is in its 4th year and they are back to back champions. Learn something before you post on here.
LB Poly has a great athletic program, and that's really an understatement. But the football program takes things to an altogether different level, as does the track program at poly. Football success at poly has been awesome since 1997. Of course coach Lara has been a big part of that success, but the incredible talent that's at poly YEARLY makes his job so much easier. The difficult part is the "non-coaching" part. The counseling, the mentoring, the 'fathering', etc. But the actual COACHING part of the job is made easy with the influx of talent at poly - AND a couple of incredible asst. coaches, in particular one named Don Norford. All that aside, lara SHOULD win with the talent he gets every season. I could coach those teams to championships. People not in-the-know don't really understand how much talent is at poly. If they did, they would also be critical of lara's play calling duties and his BIG losses - 2 losses to Concord, and loss to Sac Grant in state championship game. Poly's 3 BIGGEST games in the last 30 years. Coach Jerry Jaso and other coaches labored for 11 years - after poly's 1985 co-championship, to get poly back to dominance. He accomplished that, but he was a heck of a coach. He made the transistion from defensive coordinator to offensive coordinator with extreme effectiveness. However, coach lara hasn't enjoyed that same transitional success. Defense has and always will be his side of the ball. But what does he do? Coach Turley has proved to be an excellent defensive coordinator at poly and there's absolutely no reason to move or demote him. Coach lara has a dilemma that he MUST face and deal with. Regardless of past championships, there is a level of greatness that yet has eluded poly football. Ask most C.I.F. coaches who coach upper level D-1 programs and they will attest to that. At LB Poly, ONLY our best effort will suffice. Whether its our best 11 on the field - or our best coaches in the box.
And, by the way, it would be a futile effort to seek replacing coach lara. Why? His boss is the Poly A.D. - OFF THE FIELD. But this same person works for coach lara ON THE FIELD as special teams coach. Not that he should, but coach lara ain't going anywhere anytime soon unless its HIS decision.
poly has an amazing athletic program. let's not forget that poly was named the sports school of the century by sports illustrated back in 05. let the poly haters trot around on their high horse while they can. it'll be another 27 years until they can feel this way again.
To Anonymus, your right, good players do make good coaches. I've seen it happen this year at Warren. With all due respect if it wasn't for Jesse Callier no one in this area would even hear the name Chris Benadom (head Coach at Warren). But your also wrong, because good coaches also make good players. Coach Lara is by far one of the best coaches in the nation if not, arguably the best. I am not a Poly fan nor am I a Poly hater, but I give credit where credit is due. Coach Lara has done a phenomenal job with such a young group of players that have never played on the varsity level before. This VARSITY level is in the Pac-5 Division which in my opinion is the best in the state. Which other division in this state do you see at least three to four teams in the top 10 every year. They play against powerhouse programs (Oceanside, Lakewood, Servite, Narbonne, St. Bonaventure) that continue to produce Division 1 players year in, year out. Coach Lara and the Jackrabbits WILL be back next year to take the Moore League Crown, no doubt in my mind and they will definitely go far into the playoffs. I've watched the Poly program these last five years and it is not a program to be reckoned with. This is their down year, but they will begin another long Moore League streak next year, because when you lose, you tend to work twenty times harder than before. And that's exactly what Poly will be doing.