Prep Wednesday : Coaches Who Replace Living Legends Can Find Themselves in No-Win Situation

Marty McWhinney knows what it’s like to come in on the heels of a legend. And he wouldn’t wish the experience on anyone.

McWhinney, who two weeks ago was hired to replace Jerry Howell as football coach at Foothill High School, accepted his first head coaching job 20 years ago at El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera.

McWhinney, then only 25, took over for his former high school coach, Ernie Johnson. In his 14 years at El Rancho, Johnson had led the school to five Southern Section championship games, winning three.

“I remember it as if it were yesterday. There was just an incredible amount of pressure (to win),” McWhinney said. “I was in way over my head.

“The pressure was so enormous . . . I don’t think it wasn’t until the fourth of fifth game of the season that I could actually smile.”

Many county high school coaches can relate to that experience. And most agree, replacing a successful coach is not always an easy thing to do.

Steve Barrett, Ocean View’s baseball coach, knows the feeling. Barrett replaced former Seahawk Coach Bill Gibbons after Gibbons was fired last June.

(Gibbons said his removal stemmed from incidents during a San Luis Obispo baseball tournament last spring in which three Ocean View players were suspended for violating team rules).

In his eight years coaching at Ocean View, Gibbons led the Seahawks to three Sunset League championships since 1985, and guided the team at least as far as the Southern Section quarterfinals every year since 1983.

“Bill Gibbons is like a living legend around here,” he said. “I mean, he won the Sunset League in 1985, ’86 and ’87. No one wins the Sunset League three times in a row. It’s a tough act to follow.”

So far under Barrett the Seahawks are 12-4 overall and lead the Sunset League with a 4-1 record. Barrett said the success has made the transition much easier.

“It’s a good thing though we’ve had more Ws than Ls,” he said. “If we didn’t, I think they’d be calling for my neck. I’m serious. People around here expect results, and they expect them quick.

“If you lost here, it wouldn’t be accepted. Even the principal here (John Meyers) called me in and said he expected to have a winning season. He said, ‘I expect results and then we’ll talk (about having a job at the end of the season)’. In other words, don’t go out and mess up a good program.”

At Whittier Christian, basketball Coach Bob Brown replaced Bill Cuccia last year after Cuccia resigned. In nine years, Cuccia’s teams won seven Olympic League championships, compiled a 180-49 overall record and reached the Southern Section final three times.

Brown, who coached the Heralds’ freshman and junior varsity squads for 11 years, said when he took the job, he believed that most of the loyalties of the team and their parents were still with Cuccia.

“Bill was a very popular coach here with the kids and the parents,” Brown said. “He turned a program that once had problems having a winning season into a program that was a big winner. When he finally resigned in October, it was a big disappointment for the kids, most of them were seniors.

“I was pretty sure that all of the basketball parents wanted Bill to come back. Not that it was any ill will toward me--I don’t think it was. I just knew they favored Bill to come back.”

Brown said the season hit a low point when Orange Lutheran--a longtime rival--defeated Whittier Christian for the second time.

“That was a big disappointment because the kids had really wanted to win league and losing to them twice was a major setback toward the goal,” Brown said. “I think if there was a time that people might have second-guessed me, that could’ve been it.”

But, after an inspirational post-game talk, which Cuccia attended, Brown said the players were remotivated to win a Southern Section championship--something no Whittier Christian team had done.

Three weeks later, the Heralds won the 2-AA title.

“It turned out to be one of those storybook seasons, really,” Brown said. “I couldn’t believe what happened.”

Some coaches, especially those who had been on the staff for a long time before accepting the head coaching job, say replacing a very successful coach was not much of a problem at all. The transition, they say, was surprisingly smooth because they shared many of the same philosophies and strategies as the former coach.

After spending 11 years as his assistant, Bill Backstrom replaced Bob Lester as El Modena football coach in 1985. Lester, who had been the coach since the school opened in 1966, won three Southern Section titles in that time and lost two others in overtime. His career record at El Modena was 157-58-8.

“When Bob asked me if I would take over, I had no intention of being the head coach,” Backstrom said. “I talked to all the other assistant coaches, and they said if I would take the job, then they would stay on at least three more years.

“Under those circumstances, I accepted. At least with having the others there, it wasn’t like bringing in an entirely new program. That makes a big difference, I think.”

But in Backstrom’s first season, the Vanguards failed to advance to the Southern Section playoffs.

“The only problem I was feeling was that we always expected so much success at El Modena,” Backstrom said. “In one period of years from 1978 to 1985, we had a run of eight straight years where we were in at least the semifinals every year. . . . In that sense, my first year was tough.”

But Backstrom said he never heard any grumbling from the players, their parents or the administration.

“I think everyone understood the situation,” he said. “The thing was, they wanted Bob to continue coaching, but they also realized that (his years of coaching) were numbered. Basically, I was the young guy coming in and I don’t think they wanted to hurt the future. It was a sensitive situation.”

Many county coaches side with Backstrom in that replacing a successful coach isn’t too difficult--especially when the former coach helps when he can.

Three years ago, Paul Orris replaced Jack Errion, who retired after 11 years as Corona del Mar’s basketball coach. In that time, Errion led Corona del Mar to three Southern Section championship games, of which the school won two.

“Jack made it very easy for me because we had worked together (at Corona del Mar) for 11 years,” Orris said. “We sat down every day during our office period and bounced things off each other. He always made me feel like I was part of the decision making, and kind of groomed me for the job, I think.

“The first year I was varsity coach, he was still teaching on campus, so I could go to him for help and he welcomed it. That wealth of knowledge, that’s what I miss the most, though he still comes over and talks to us sometimes. And he still yells at me if I do something wrong, and still pats me on the back when I do something right.”

At Mission Viejo, Mike Rush took over last season for Bill Crow, who had coached football at Mission Viejo for 18 years, including the last eight years as head coach. In that time, Crow had won a Central Conference title, and finished runner-up once as well.

But Rush, who had been an assistant to Crow for 10 years, said the pressure was minimal, if any. Especially because the Diablos finished last season 12-1 overall.

“If we hadn’t had a winning season, I’m sure there might have been complaints,” Rush said. “Nothing cures more ills than success . . .

“But if there was any pressure, it was self-made. When you talk about legends, as coaches, we’re all legends in our own minds.”