MIKE SHAUGHNESSY

Richard Dunn

Arriving on the heels of Randy Vataha, former Estancia High

standout Mike Shaughnessy rebuked college football’s old theory of

how much size matters to a player.

“Vataha’s play (at receiver) had broken down some barriers in how

you had to be a certain size and have a certain height and a certain

weight, otherwise they couldn’t use you,” said Shaughnessy, a wide

receiver and defensive back at Estancia (Class of ‘70) who became a

star receiver for Golden West College and later for Cal in the Pac 8

Conference at 5-foot-9, 160 pounds.

Vataha, a JC All-American at Golden West with a similar physique,

was two years ahead of Shaughnessy and became a star at Stanford,

where Mike White was an assistant coach. White was later hired at

Berkeley as the head coach -- just in time for Shaughnessy and the

comparisons to Vataha.

“We were kind of similar packages,” said Shaughnessy, who followed

Vataha’s brilliant Rustler career with All-South Coast Conference

accolades.

“I was just coming out of Golden West College when Randy Vataha

was just finishing (his career) at Stanford ... (Vataha) had played

real well in college and people expected me to be doing the same

things.”

After his two-year GWC career in 1970-71, Shaughnessy seemed all

but signed, sealed and delivered to Stanford, but White’s coaching

change from Stanford to Cal set in motion Shaughnessy’s commitment to

the Bears late in the recruiting season.

Shaughnessy did not become an All-American at Cal, but enjoyed an

excellent Pac 8 career that included receiving the conference’s

longest touchdown pass of the season (about 78 yards) from Bears

quarterback Steve Bartkowski in 1973, Shaughnessy’s senior year.

Following the touchdown, Shaughnessy did a back flip in the end

zone, keeping a promise he once made to his buddy, Cal center Kevin

O’Dorisio. “I’d been doing back flips in full pads (in practice) and

O’Dorisio (one of the Bears’ captains) had been bugging me to do it

in a game if I caught a touchdown, and sure enough, a couple of weeks

later, I caught this pass from Bartkowski,” Shaughnessy said. “I was

so tired at the end of the run, I barely made my back flip.”

Years later, longtime former NFL player and coach Howard Mudd, who

was Cal’s offensive line coach in ‘73, bumped into Shaughnessy and

relived the back-flip moment. “He said it was something he’d always

remember. He couldn’t believe it,” Shaughnessy said. “It was kind of

before all that end zone (celebration) stuff started going on.”

Perhaps Shaughnessy’s favorite highlight came in a home game

against Ohio State and Buckeye Coach Woody Hayes and Heisman Trophy

tailback Archie Griffin. Early in the game, Shaughnessy ran a reverse

and “got hammered” on the play, but later ran a reverse and threw a

touchdown pass to Steve Sweeney.

Prior to his collegiate career, Shaughnessy played on the lower

levels at Estancia until his senior year, when he was a two-way

starter and earned a spot on the South team in the Orange County

All-Star football game.

“I think I was actually a more polished defensive player at the

time, but I knew I wanted to be a receiver in college,” said

Shaughnessy, an All-Irvine League defensive back for then-Estancia

Coach Phil Brown in the autumn of 1969.

Shaughnessy, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of

Fame, was a football coach for 27 years, including the last six as

head coach at Golden West, before taking a sabbatical leave this

year.

After devoting most of his adult life to coaching and teaching,

Shaughnessy is ready to apply more of his keen insights to his own

three children: Patrick, 8, Kevin, 7, and daughter Kelly, 6.

Shaughnessy, 50, said he’s undecided about returning to the coaching

ranks.

Shaughnessy, who lives in Huntington Beach with his “wonderful

wife” Gabriella, said his wife has been very supportive throughout

his coaching career and will continue to do so if he chooses to

return to coaching.