St. Paul High School said goodbye to a coaching legend when Marijon Ancich retired at the end of the recent football season, and it will welcome a new era with one of the up-and-coming coaches in Southern California.
The Santa Fe Springs school announced that it has hired Elijah Asante, who recently resigned after two seasons at City Section power Carson, as its next football coach.
Asante comes to St. Paul with one of the better resumes in California, coaching the past seven years in the Los Angeles City Section, first at Los Angeles Jordan and the past two at Carson, which advanced to the Division I finals each of the past two seasons.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to coach this tradition-rich program,” Asante said. “I’m taking over for a coaching legend, who I admire and the type of football that St. Paul is known for. I’m excited. The future is bright.”
Asante was 20-9 in two seasons at Carson, taking the Colts to the City Section Division 1 championship game each year, losing 45-7 to Crenshaw in 2010, and 48-32 to Narbonne this fall. The Colts also played one of the tougher schedules in Southern California, opening with a 26-22 victory over Mater Dei before losing to Long Beach Poly (38-18) and Santa Margarita (39-21), which went on to win the CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 title and a Division I CIF state bowl game.
“He’s just has a tremendous track record,” St. Paul athletic director Shawn Clingan said.
Asante is replacing a living legend in Ancich, who ranks second in wins in California with 353 victories, 140 losses and nine ties while serving three different stints as the Swordsmen’s head coach.
Ancich, who turned St. Paul into one of the more recognized programs in Southern California, won three CIF-SS titles (’68,’72,’81), two California State titles and 19 league championships. St. Paul was 7-3 this season, but missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, finishing fourth in the Mission League.
Asante believes that winning tradition can be resurrected.
“It’s a sleeping giant,” Asante said. “And it’s going to be awakened. All the fundamentals are there for them to bring this program back to the way it was. But we have to get everybody excited, from the kids, their parents, the boosters, everybody. We want them to be excited to be a Swordsmen.”
St. Paul, which will return quarterback Paul Telles and offensive lineman Cristian Garcia, two of the better players in the area, will play what is expected to be arguably the top schedules in the area in 2012 with a slate that will feature old rival Bishop Amat, along with area stalwart La Habra. Asante is hoping to add Loyola to the schedule.
Asante also said he is the process of interviewing coaches to complete his staff and installing a weight training program