Hall of Fame: Dennis Evans (Corona del Mar)

Richard Dunn

As a high school principal, you wouldn’t think of a sports Hall of

Famer. But the 17-year reign at Corona del Mar High for Dennis Evans was

one for all the record books.

Evans, later involved in the Great Principal Swap with Newport

Harbor’s Tom Jacobson, steered a Sea King ship that voyaged through

unprecedented waters with nearly two dozen CIF Southern Section

championships in his tenure.

“Having a background in athletics, I think that helped me understand

how important athletics can be in a school,” said Evans, a former

Whittier College baseball player.

Evans, who earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Whittier,

as well as a teaching credential, coached the Poets’ freshmen baseball

team while attending Whittier graduate school in 1962.

“I think it can be tough being a high school principal if you’re

ambivalent about sports,” Evans said. “It’s a lot better if you like

(sports). Fortunately, I’ve always enjoyed sports.”

At CdM, Evans and former Sea King athletic director Ron Davis formed a

solid administrative team for almost two decades in the 1970s and ‘80s,

when only CIF and state championship banners were allowed to hang on the

walls inside the gym, a traditional that remains.

Under Evans’ direction, the Sea Kings managed small dynasties in

numerous sports, including boys basketball and water polo, while girls

sports began to flourish under Title IX.

“People come in and think those are league championship banners on the

wall,” Evans said, “then they do a double take and realize, ‘My gosh,

those are CIF championships up there.”’

Another time, Evans was successful in getting CIF sanctions levied

against Mater Dei for allegedly “tampering with some kids,” viewed as a

big victory for the small school.

But, prior to the 1988-89 school year, a strange thing happened in the

Newport-Mesa School District. Superintendent John Nicoll swapped

principals at CdM and Newport Harbor. Evans, who started as CdM principal

in the 1971-72 school year, was ordered to move across the Back Bay to

Newport Harbor, where Jacobson was the principal.

“I probably can’t explain why (we were swapped) to this day,” Evans

said. “We had no inkling it was going to happen ... we thought our own

school was going very well. I remember people saying, ‘If it’s not

broken, don’t fix it.’ But it turned out to be a good thing ... because I

was meeting more people, seeing a different school operate and running a

different school.”

Evans, who earned his doctorate at USC, remained at Newport Harbor for

four years, before moving on to UC Irvine. Evans had already been

teaching at UCI in the advanced teaching credential program, before a

desired full-time position opened up.

Evans, who has been at UCI since 1992, is the Director of the

Doctorate Program for Educational Leadership.

When Evans was hired at CdM, he was the youngest principal in Orange

County at age 32, then, prior to Nicoll’s locally famous Principal Swap,

Evans had the most tenure at one school of any county principal.

Before coming to CdM, Evans made stops at Sweetwater, El Rancho,

Lowell and La Habra high schools as a teacher or administrator.

“There were a couple of job openings in the (Newport-Mesa) district

(in 1971), including principal at Corona del Mar and principal at Costa

Mesa, and the interview was really for one or the other,” Evans said. “I

remember I got a call from (former superintendent) Kevin Wheeler and he

said, ‘How would you like to be the principal at Corona del Mar High

School?’ I thought that wasn’t too bad.”

When word got out that Evans attended Whittier College, at least two

CdM coaches -- football coach Dave Holland and wrestling coach Dick

Morris, both Whittier alums -- were thrilled.

Evans, who enjoyed an excellent relationship with all departments at

the school, never viewed athletes differently than others trying to excel

in a certain field.

Evans, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

lives on Lido Isle with his wife, Kristine. They have two grown children,

Mark, 36, and Suzy, 35, both of whom graduated from CdM when their father

was principal. They also have two stepchildren, Brittain and Curtis.