Prep football: Starting from scratch

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - For the first time in his coaching career, Estancia

High head man Jay Noonan operates at the center of his football program’s

universe. And, just more than two months after taking his first head

coaching job, the longtime assistant and former USC walk-on appears to

have generated a big bang of enthusiasm that is tangible on the Eagles’

practice field.

With Noonan surveying his 40-player roster, primarily from the center

of the practice flurry, Eagle players fly between offensive and defensive

drills eager to impress.

That there are more than two dozen varsity athletes at all is

impressive to some, after a stand-in staff guided a limited formation of

Eagles through what amounted to a ceremonial spring practice. This took

place before Noonan was named to replace Dave Perkins, who is now guiding

the crosstown rival Costa Mesa Mustangs.

There was, Noonan later learned, even some discussion among

administrators about the possibility of not having a football team at all

this season.

Any such scenario, however, disappeared amid the maelstrom generated

by Noonan, who routinely projects conviction worthy of a pregame pep

talk.

“There was a problem with the kids’ confidence when I got here,” said

Noonan, whose most recent coaching assignment was tutoring the running

backs at Capistrano Valley High. “I think what we did, as coaches, was

inject confidence. One of the players, at our very first meeting, made a

comment that any new coach is going to promise things. But, we’ve tried

to make sure we haven’t promised anything we couldn’t deliver. We said

we’d get the facilities fixed up and we’ve done that. We said we’d

establish a summer program and work on strength and conditioning and I

believe we’ve done that. I think that has shown the kids there is a

commitment to them and that’s helped their confidence.

“They’ve been told they won’t be very good and they’ve been told the

odds against success are insurmountable. But our coaching staff has said

‘Fine, let’s use that for motivation. Let everyone believe we’re not very

good, while we work hard, play together and believe in ourselves.’ I

believe our kids believe in themselves.”

What has also helped foster that belief is an unexpected stream of

nine transfers, as well as the addition of seven newcomers already

attending the school.

Ironically, the Eagles have collected more transfer players than the

parade of talent that left for Costa Mesa, though the latter group

included five starters from the 7-4 playoff team, three of whom were

All-Pacific Coast League honorees.

The new names and faces should come in plenty handy, since there are

no returning starters, including two who remain at Estancia, but have

elected not to play.

The program’s mass defection, including 27 players from last year’s

39-player freshman squad, left little more than a clean slate for Noonan

and his assistants. It’s a little tough to evaluate personnel from last

year’s video library, when virtually no one on this year’s roster left

the sideline last season.

The lack of sophomores is another trend Noonan will hope to squelch.

Of the 76 players represented in the three freshman team pictures to

appear in the program the last three years, only 20 are members of this

year’s varsity. That’s nearly five dozen dropouts, an attrition rate

capable of making Eagle football players an endangered species.

Noonan, however, plans to preserve and protect. To that end, he

restored and prominently displayed the school record boards that, he

said, had been forsaken before his arrival. The surprisingly good turnout

will also allow him to field a junior varsity team, a crucial

developmental tool for any successful program. But, as Noonan becomes

more familiar with his new program’s history, he’ll discover only three

playoffs wins in 36 seasons, none since 1980.

Maintaining last year’s trend of success -- it was the Eagles’ first

trip to the CIF Southern Section playoffs since 1995 -- is a tall order

this fall, despite a crop of speedy skill-position athletes that may wind

up generating interest form college recruiters.

Junior Lewis Bradshaw, who played at Newport Harbor last year, the

Harriman brothers, Nate and Sean, from McKinney Texas, as well as

Fountain Valley transfer Jermaine Snell and former Connecticut resident

Marco Montez, should all find productive homes on Placentia Avenue.

Bradshaw will start at quarterback and defensive end, while Nate

Harriman and Snell, both seniors, are expected to start at receiver,

while also manning defensive roles at outside linebacker and cornerback,

respectively.

Montes, a stout 5-foot-9, 260-pound senior, is a projected starter at

inside linebacker.

Sean Harriman, a sophomore, figures to contribute on both sides of the

ball, as does senior Junior Tanielu, among the rare breed of returners.

Tanielu, slated to start at running back and inside linebacker, joins

seniors Ryan Grimes, Mitch Valdes and Raymond Romua as the only returners

to have posted offensive statistics last fall. But the sum of those

contributions amounts to six rushing attempts for 42 yards and one

reception for 6 yards.

Noonan, via Offensive Coordinator David LaMarre, will implement a

split-back veer offense, with some West Coast passing schemes thrown in.

Noonan said it’s a scheme borrowed from De La Salle High of Concord,

which is currently on a 113-game winning streak.

This year’s offense has a tough act to follow, after the 2000 unit

produced 4,071 yards and scored a school single-season record 312 points.

The defensive scheme, under the guidance of coordinator Scott Wilkie,

is an attacking four-four built around the blitz.

Noonan also promises some gadget plays, primarily on special teams.

“I believe in the Bill Walsh philosophy that you should always throw a

trick play in, before your opponent does,” Noonan said.

Another reason for optimism is a preleague schedule lacking an obvious

juggernaut. Beginning with Magnolia, Sept. 6 at Newport Harbor, the

Eagles will play five nonleague foes who failed to make the playoffs last

season. Estancia’s 10 regular season games also feature only one team,

reigning PCL champion University, that won a playoff game last year.