By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
When Charter Oak’s Lou Farrar, Damien’s Greg Gano and South Hills’ Steve Bogan gathered together recently, it was a reminder to enjoy the ride while the three coaching legends are still on board. Farrar is reminiscent of Penn State’s Joe Paterno and Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, at 63-years-old and his 42nd year of coaching, he’s still having the time of his life, and whipping kids half his age. He’s a time capsule of coaching memories that dates back to the late 1960s, and the best days could still be ahead.

“What am I going to do, retire and plant tomatoes,” Farrar jokes. “This is what keeps me young. The wife doesn’t want me home anyway.”
After winning his fourth CIF-Southern Section championship with the Chargers last December, why quit now, the rivalry with Gano and Bogan for area coaching supremacy is at it’s epic peak, with all three owning four CIF-SS titles.
Only one coach in East San Gabriel Valley history has more, Los Altos’ Dwayne DeSpain, who won seven CIF titles from 1972-88.
Gano might have run down DeSpain in his own backyard had he not left Los Altos after winning championships with the Conquerors in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003.
Nobody looks like a coach, walks like a coach or talks like a coach more than Gano. And few could do what he pulled off at Los Altos. Not only did he follow DeSpain, he relished the opportunity of succeeding the greatest coach in area history, and left with his own big shoes to fill.
Now Gano’s moved on to Damien, a place with a loyal and desperate following hoping to relive the glory days of the school’s 1977 and ’82 CIF titles.
“There is a lot of hunger here, you can feel it,” Gano said. “There is nothing more satisfying than taking on tradition. Damien has it, we just got it get back there again.”
Then there is South Hills’ Bogan, who won all his championships this decade, winning titles in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2005.
He is a modern-day master of X’s and O’s and formulating a game plan, but also has a deep and complex side that comes with having a Masters degree in Theology.
He loves to quote passages of history, whether it’s former Presidents, famous generals, coaches, or the Bible.
He is as forgiving of youthful mistakes as any high school coach you come across, but is as hard and demanding as well.
“We’re all human,” Bogan likes to say. “They’re (kids) not perfect and I’m not perfect. We all screw up. We all have to check ourselves from time to time. But if you give me everything you have, at the end of the day, I can live with that.”
Times like this don’t come around often.
Entering the 2009 high school football season you have three of the greatest coaches in area history still defining their places in history.
The one who wins the next championship stands alone behind DeSpain with five, and though it’s not something they spend a lot of time talking about, they admit that facing each other brings out the best in all of them.
“You have to remember, I watched Bogan and Gano when they played in high school, they were as competitive as they come,” Farrar said. “I’m sure for them it’s much more of a pleasure to kick my old butt. But I will tell you what, nothing is more exciting than when our programs face each other. If you miss it, you’re missing a heck of a football game. I don’t know what the score is until the end of the game because for four quarters, you don’t have a moment to relax.”
Bogan and Gano have a unique history.
Bogan was a defensive back at Edgewood High, Gano was a quarterback at rival West Covina. They continued their rivalry in college, with Bogan at Cal Lutheran and Gano at Azusa Pacific.
Bogan and Gano’s relationship became closer when Gano joined Bogans South Hills coaching staff in the early 1990s, then the rivalry heated up again when Gano finally landed at Los Altos.
“I have a great history with Greg, and a lot of respect for him,” Bogan said. “Yeah I want to beat him and he wants to beat me, but I think we both live for the big games. That’s what it’s all about.
“I have a lot of respect for Lou because of his longevity. It takes a lot of energy to do what we do. But most importantly, we all surround ourselves with great assistants. You don’t win without a competent staff, and that’s something we all share in common.”
Perhaps the biggest rivalry is between Gano and Farrar. They have met three times in championship games.
Gano’s Los Altos teams defeated Charter Oak in the 1999 and 2000 Division VII title games. Charter Oak ended Los Altos’ three-peat bid by knocking off the Conquerors in the 2001 title game.
“What I remember about playing Lou is being so uptight the day of the games,” Gano said. “I couldn’t wait for it to be over I was so high strung.
“You know what his coaching staff is going to bring and he knows what ours is going to bring. At the end of the day talent usually won out, but there is a genuine rivalry between us, no doubt about out it.
“I have respect for him, but if he could beat me 50-0 he would, and I would do the same. That’s how our rivalry is, we want to pound each other.”
In October the final vote for a new area realignment takes place. By next season, Damien, Charter Oak and South Hills could all be in the Sierra League, which obviously will put them all in the same division.
Imagine that, the three winningest coaches of the current era going at it for years to come.
“I’m sure your blogs (at the Tribune) would love that,” Gano said. “But let’s be honest, it would be great for area football. I know it would take a lot out of all of us, but it would be a heck of a lot of fun too.”
fred.robledo@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2161