Sidelines column: Sweet sixty

Don Cantrell

On June 28, 60 years ago, Al and Lois Irwin chose to make Waukegan,

Ill. one of the most important towns in their lives. Due to the pressures

of World War II, it was most convenient to marry in the small city.

And the anniversary cake provided by friends and family was likely

very colorful, though no one would have expected them to blow out the

candles.

Irwin, who has achieved years of great success coaching football and

water sports at Newport harbor High, Orange Coast College and UC Irvine,

also celebrated his 84th birthday this past Feb. 11 with good cheer from

all quarters.

Although Irwin had been offered a football scholarship to USC in 1936,

he chose to attend College of the Pacific and play under the legendary

grid great Amos Alonzo Stagg.

As an outstanding lineman at COP, Irwin drew major experience by being

able to play against the likes of Notre Dame, USC, Washington and Oregon

State.

Stockton, home of COP, also became a vibrant place for Irwin after he

came to meet a lovely coed working at the college book store.

She was a Northern California girl named Lois. The relationship grew

warmly in good time.

Lois once remarked, reflecting back, “I used to wonder why he kept

asking to carry my books.”

Prior to marriage, Irwin, a naval officer, was stationed at the Great

Lakes Naval Training Center, where he taught swimming in 12 pools.

In time, he would be shifted to the South Pacific, where he would

become a flight deck officer aboard the famed U.S.S. Lexington.

After the war, the Irwins returned to the Stockton area, where he

became an assistant football coach at Antioch High. That’s where he came

to tutor the big giant, Gino Marchetti, who subsequently became All-Pro

for the Baltimore Colts and was eventually voted into the Pro Football

Hall of Fame.

Irwin also coached Duane Putnam, who later starred for the LA Rams, as

well as Jesse Cone of Stanford fame. Cone later coached at Pomona

College.

A graduate of Harbor High in 1936, Irwin earned a record 15 varsity

letters as a prepster and was voted Orange League Player of the Year in

football before returning to coach at Newport from 1948-55.

After coaching a championship team at Orange Coast in 1956, health

problems prompted him to drop football and put his coaching talents into

two other sports he enjoyed: swimming and water polo. He won nine state

swim titles in nine years and one water polo crown.

During his last year at OCC, Irwin was observed numerous times by a

UCI official, one who finally offered him a coaching post at Irvine.

Irwin was surprised by the offer, but chose to accept it. He then

advanced to produce numerous titles and awards at UCI and eventually

became the athletic director. He chose to retire in 1979.

Over the years, the Irwins have earned an army of friends in the

harbor area. They have made up for the war years, which has featured an

annual vacation to the Hawaiian Islands in late spring.

Two of the great joys date back to their early years, when they

welcomed two daughters, Claudia and Marcia, into the world.

Added to the colorful list, was granddaughter Carrie and grandson

Casey. Their Parents were Marcia and David Maze, both 1964 graduates of

Corona del Mar High. They’ve all maintained close ties with Al and Lois

Irwin over the years.

Interesting to note that Al and his late brother, Ralph, were both

four-year varsity football lettermen at Harbor High in the school’s early

years. Few players ever earn four years of varsity grid monograms.

In reflecting back on Al’s career, Lois once said his bowing away from

football coaching in 1956 was one of her husband’s greatest

disappointments in life. Nerve problems had prompted Irwin to turn away

from football.

Lois said, “Football was his true love. That was what he really wanted

to play and coach.”

One staggering loss from his championship OCC football team was losing

five of his top players to the new Cerritos College. Later, he lost his

two outstanding assistants, Jim Strangeland and Bill Poore, to Long Beach

City College.