South Hills football coach Steve Bogan staying put

By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
For those who don’t know South Hills High School football coach Steve Bogan, his belief in God and involvement with the Christian church is a huge part of his life.
That’s why it was no surprise Bogan was intrigued with the possibility of leaving South Hills for Maranatha, a Christian school in Pasadena with a highly touted sophomore quarterback in Andrew Elffers who could help the Minutemen compete for the Mid-Valley Division title over the next two years. But Bogan, who’s been teaching at South Hills since 1985 and has won four CIF-Southern Section division titles since taking over as head football coach in 1992, decided to remain at South Hills after weighing his options over the weekend.

After Maranatha football coach Joel Murphy resigned last month, a mutual friend introduced Bogan to Maranatha officials, and the dialogue began.

Maranatha officials presented a good package and Bogan took a tour of the campus, but he told Maranatha officials Tuesday he would remain at South Hills.

Bogan said it was a difficult decision.

“It (Maranatha) did seem like a natural fit,” Bogan said. “They’re clearly about Christ, and that’s the heartbeat of my life. It wasn’t so much about football as it was what they stood for and our shared beliefs about developing young men and women.

“In terms of sports, they believe as I do that athletics is a big part of education. That’s always been my philosophy at South Hills. If anything, the whole process gave me more of an appreciation of where I’m at and what I want to do.”

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