OCC adds three to athletic staff

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA -- Before classes start Monday and while teams train

for the upcoming season, Orange Coast College has announced the

hiring of three new coaches and the promotion of another.

Larry Moore is the new coach of OCC crew, Marco Ochoa will be an

assistant coach for the Pirates’ cross country teams and Scott Orloff

will be a defensive line coach for the football team. In addition,

Doug Smith, an offensive line coach for the past two years, will work

as a full-time assistant football coach and faculty member in the

school’s physical education program.

Moore was the Pirates’ crew assistant coach in the 1980s, and came

back to be an assistant the past two years under Dave Grant. Moore, a

former OCC crew member, credits Grant for earning his degree at

Cornell University. Moore will take over a successful program at OCC.

Grant retired in the spring after 38 seasons. Coast, the only

community college with a crew program, has won 80% of its junior

varsity races against college powerhouses, UC Berkeley, Stanford,

UCLA, Washington, Harvard and Pennsylvania. In the spring, OCC

dedicated its boathouse in Grant’s name.

“He’s very knowledgeable about rowing,” Grant said of Moore. “He’s

just a wonderful personality. Crew is very lucky to have him.”

For the Coast cross country teams, head coach John Knox will have

Ochoa assisting him this season.

Ochoa last coached at Santa Ana College from 1992 to ’96. Then,

the next four years, he dedicated full-time training for competition

in national and international marathons.

He qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon in 1996

and 2000, earning the second alternate position in 1996. he was also

a member of the 1997 World Championships Marathon team that competed

in Athens, Greece.

Ochoa competed in track and field and cross country at Santa Ana

College before moving on to Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo,

where he became a two-time NAIA All-American.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology and Leisure

Science, and then obtained a master’s degree in Health, Physical

Education and Recreation.

On the Coast football team, Orloff, who was the head football

coach at Dana Hills High the past five years, will also assist Coach

Mike Taylor with the defensive coordinating. Orloff, an El Dorado

High graduate, also had a coaching stint at Santa Ana Valley High.

Smith, a 14-year NFL veteran who earned six trips to the Pro Bowl

as a Los Angeles Ram, will be the Pirates’ offensive coordinator this

year, Taylor said. Smith takes over for Sean Ponder, the former OCC

quarterback who is now coaching arena football in Kansas.