Covina football hires assistant Joe Brown, who is also girls softball coach, to take over football reigns; Marc Paramo takes over at Rosemead

By Aram Tolegian, Staff Writer
Two local high school football programs put quick ends to their respective coaching searches by hiring from within Wednesday. At Covina, longtime assistant Joe Brown was named the successor to Darryl Thomas. At Rosemead, former assistant Marc Paramo was hired to replace Matt Koffler.

Both programs are among area’s more successful ones, with Covina having reached the semifinals of the playoffs five times under Thomas and Rosemead reaching the semifinals of the Division 7 playoffs 2001 and the Mid-Valley Division championship game in 2008 under Koffler.

Brown’s came as somewhat of a shock since he originally turned the job down when the school tried to hire from within. Covina recently flew the position publicly and had attracted 12-15 applicants before Brown had a change of heart and decided to take the job.

“They offered it to me when we got back from Christmas break and I thought about it for a few days and politely turned it down,” said Brown, a 1990 graduate of Wilson. “After thinking about it, I’ve been here 16 years.

“I live right by the school. I still want to coach. I had opportunities to coach in some other programs but I just decided it would be better if I stayed here at Covina and took the responsibility.”

Brown was offensive coordinator under Thomas since 2005. In that time, he’s called the plays for some high-flying offenses. In 2005, Covina averaged 43 points per game. In 2006, the Colts scored 42 points per game. This past season, Covina averaged 36 points per game.

Brown’s chances of continuing that kind of success suffered a big blow Tuesday when standout running back Gevontray Ainsworth, who would have been the Colts’ top returning player next season, checked out of school and transferred to Monrovia.

Paramo’s hiring at Rosemead came as no shock. After Koffler resigned earlier this month, he was very vocal in wanting Paramo, his defensive coordinator, to replace him.

“The good thing about coach Koffler was that he didn’t micro-manage,” said Paramo, who graduated from Rosemead in 1995. “I was pretty much the head coach of the defense and the special teams, so I already felt like I was doing head coach things.

“It’s unfortunate that coach Koffler stepped down, but this would be the only place I ever would have done it. I couldn’t be more excited. I grew up in Rosemead and went to Rosemead High School. My dad is 80 and still lives right down the street and he doesn’t miss a game.”

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