5 Southern California high school football head coaching openings to keep an eye on
The high school football head coaching carousel in Southern California is in full swing. There are currently over 40 head coaching jobs open in the region. Scorebook Live California's Connor Morrissette breaks down the five best available jobs below.
Arroyo Knights
Longtime Arroyo head coach Jim Singiser established a great culture at the school in his 17 seasons at the helm. He won a CIF championship in 2016 and held an overall .696 win percentage, the best in school history. He retired following this past season. Whoever takes the reigns has a great blueprint for success.
Burroughs Indians
It doesn't look like Burroughs has an open teaching position, which means the next coach will have to be a walk-on following Rand Holdren's resignation. That will make it less attractive to some, but there's an opportunity at Burroughs to have a winning team right away.
The Indians finished last season with an upset win over Burbank to get to 6-4. They had solid contributions from their sophomore class, which bodes well for this upcoming season. This was a team on the rise under Holdren. The next coach will have a chance to build on that.
Katella Knights
Much like at Arroyo, Katella has a winning tradition thanks to a veteran coach who has decided to step aside. The Knights went 11-2 last season under head coach Fred DiPalma, who announced his retirement in December. Katella won a CIF title in 2017 under DiPalma. The Knights are the perennial Orange League favorites and that should continue with a new coach.
St. Bernard Vikings
The worst kept secret in Southern California high school football is that former Narbonne head coach Manny Douglas will take over at St. Bernard after the school decided to part ways with Joe Torres. Douglas will likely be hired in the coming weeks.
This is an attractive position because the school is committed to athletics. They want to build up their basketball and football programs to compete with the region's best.
Sylmar Spartans
Sylmar, the lone L.A. City Section team on the list, is an attractive job for this reason: there is talent in the San Fernando Valley and coaches in the Valley Mission League who stick around have a history of winning.
Robert Garcia has built San Fernando into a power. Alonso Arreola and Kevin Carlsen have both won LA City Section titles at Reseda and Canoga Park respectively. There is a real opportunity to turn Sylmar into a winner if the right coach comes along.
