Jack Errion, Millennium Hall of Fame
On Wednesdays, the Corona del Mar High coaches who had conference
periods at the same time would huddle together and play sports trivia.
The late Jack Errion, the legendary former CdM basketball coach, would
always have an answer.
“Jack had an incredible background and memory, yet you’d never know if
he was bluffing,” current Sea Kings basketball coach Paul Orris said.
“He’d always pull some name out of the hat, and we couldn’t tell if he
was pulling our legs or not.”
Similar to his coaching style, few in the room could keep up with him.
“He was a god almost, because he was so well-respected in terms of
tough, hard-nosed basketball,” said Orris, who replaced Errion in 1987
and has been the Sea Kings’ coach since. “Jack got 200% more out of the
talent he had than anybody I’ve ever seen. I always accused him of having
mirrors, because on a given night, there was no way his team should even
be on the same floor with certain teams. But his team would not only be
on the same floor, they’d win.
“He was really my mentor, almost a father figure. He really made you
feel needed and appreciated. He was a great guy with a great sense of
humor, but I wouldn’t want to play poker with him.”
Errion, longtime successful coach at St. Anthony High in Long Beach,
arrived at CdM to replace Tandy Gillis, and, in his first season, the Sea
Kings captured the CIF Southern Section 3-A championship in 1977 with
players like Jack Tuz and Alex Black.
“Errion had already been coaching for nearly a quarter of a century,
but Corona got the best 10 years of his career out of him before
retirement,” a story in the Daily Pilot read on Feb. 28, 1990.
“ ... Jack turned out to be not only an outstanding basketball coach,
but an outstanding gentlemen,” former CdM Athletic Director Ron Davis,
now retired, once said. “He was a walking clinic on our campus with our
lower divisions and with other head coaches in general. He was always
there to give his opinion and advice.”
Errion moved to Tucson, Ariz., with his wife, Connie, two years after
retiring and died shortly thereafter. But the latest honoree in the Daily
Pilot Sports Hall of Fame (celebrating the millennium) will always be
remembered. The school’s basketball program hosts an annual alumni
tournament each summer in his name.
“(Errion) was demanding, but at the same time, he couldn’t stay upset
even if he wanted to be upset,” said former CdM point guard Mike Hess,
who played under Errion for three years, including 1981 when the Sea
Kings won another CIF 3-A championship. “He couldn’t help but smile and
stay loose with the team.
“His reputation, or image, from the stands, or from other teams, might
have been pretty serious. But if you were around him, you knew he wasn’t
like that.”
Errion, the genius du jour of man defense and conservative offense,
finished his CdM career in 1986, when the Sea Kings of Jeff Fryer and Tod
Bearbower helped Errion to his sixth league title in 10 years.
Errion’s record at CdM was 199-60 (a .768 winning percentage), leading
the Sea Kings to three CIF championship game appearances and two titles.
On campus, Errion was also known as the consummate team player by not
only sharing his athletes, but encouraging them to play spring sports.
One year, former boys track and field coach Jim Tomlin needed high
jumpers and Errion “walked his players out en masse” to try out.
Once, Errion gave the green light to one of his players to compete in
a track meet against Edison the day before a CIF playoff basketball game.
Tomlin told Errion if the Sea Kings could avoid getting swept in the high
jump, they might win the meet. By day’s end, CdM defeated Edison.
“Jack was just as happy as we were beating Edison,” Tomlin said. “At
that time, Edison was a big school for us to be taking on.”
Errion, who won 18 or more games every winter at CdM except for two
and never came close to a losing season, guided his first CdM team to
South Coast League and CIF 3-A titles, along with a 25-5 record. The Sea
Kings beat Ramona in overtime, 56-50, for the CIF championship.
In 1979, his Sea Kings were 21-4 and reached the CIF quarterfinals,
finishing second to Estancia in a highly competitive Sea View League.
They went 22-5 and advanced to the CIF title game in 1980, losing to
La Quinta and 6-foot-9 junior sensation Johnny Rogers.
But in 1981, considered by some as the quintessential Errion squad
with Hess, Steve Moore, Mark Spinn, Chris Lynch and Jeff Pries, the Sea
Kings defeated La Quinta (and Rogers) in the CIF semifinals, 48-29, on
their way to the title.
“(Errion) had a pretty unique style of coaching at the time,” Hess
said. “We never played zone (defense), and he never thought about it.”
In 1982, the Sea Kings went 20-5 -- their fourth straight year with at
least 20 wins -- and lost to St. Bernard in the CIF semifinals, 34-28, a
typical Errion-coached game. “That should be a halftime score,” added
Hess, a senior that year.
Orris, the program’s former freshmen coach and an assistant under
Errion, said Errion’s widow still lives in Tucson.
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