Recalling a legend, Herb Hill

One of the finest grid coaches ever to emerge from Orange Coast

College was a noted Santa Ana native son named Herb Hill, Jr., who

helped head coach Steve Musseau lead OCC to a conference championship

in 1957 with a record of 8-1-0.

The late Musseau, a rugged infantry paratrooper during World War

II and a one-time tackle for Louisiana State University, was always

proud of Hill and his longtime friend, the late Gib Dear, on the

Pirates’ staff from 1957-61.

Hill, a former stout lineman for the ’49 Santa Ana College Dons,

later drew Dear along when he accepted a post as head coach of Loara

High of Anaheim and directed the Saxons to a 191-113-11 record over a period of 28 years.

Two Loara teams captured CIF Division 3A championships in 1968 and

1979.

Hill had another great assistant during eight of those years named

Glenn Thomas, a one-time grid star at Newport Harbor High in ’54 and

at Occidental College.

Thomas once said, “I learned so much from football with Herb. He

was thorough. One thing for certain with Hill-coached Loara teams,

they never beat themselves.”

And he shared Hill’s lofty admiration for Dear. Thomas said, “Gib

Dear was an absolute wonderful guy, a fine man.”

Hill remembers the big impact OCC delivered in the final ’57 game

before a packed stadium at Coast against the Dons, who were ranked

No. 1 in the nation.

The Pirates beat the invaders, 13-7, freezing a Dons’ offense

which featured four backs who could run under 10 flat in the century.

“Musseau had a big effect on me,” Hill said. “His defense and

planning was outstanding. I think he learned his great defensive

strategy from the South before he came to Orange County.” Musseau was

Mater Dei High’s head coach before coming to OCC.

Hill also recalled that he had followed a Musseau format once,

traveling extensively during the summers to visit other coaches at

major schools, such as USC, UCLA, SMU, Stanford and Arkansas.

“(Tommy) Prothro was one my idols. Prothro coached at UCLA before

moving his single-wing (philosophy) to Oregon State,” Hill said.

He shared regrets that things didn’t materialize for Musseau at

OCC as time passed. He was aware of bitter struggles between Musseau

and OCC President Basil Peterson. Peterson was always opposed to

encouraging the creation of an OCC booster club, though it was a long

fixture at Santa Ana and Fullerton. Musseau claimed it was one key to

developing a solid recruiting program.

Reflecting back, Hill said, “Peterson was always a highly

principled man. He was always against booster clubs.”

He recalled his coaching during Santa Ana days, which included

Bill Cole and Bus McKnight at Santa Ana High and JC coaches Bill Cook

and John Ward. “They were salt-of-the-earth kind of people,” he said.

Although he has been praised many times over the years for his

work at Loara High, Hill, a modest gentleman, will quickly attribute

much of the success “to the great coaches that came along with us.”

Small world things have also come his way, including a surprising

discovery after he retired to San Jacinto. He soon learned that one

of his old prep coaches, McKnight, “lives just down the street from

me.”

Asked to name one of the big events he has relished over the

years, Hill replied lightly, “It was nice to win.”

That came to mind while watching the Angel baseball team parading

in Disneyland after winning the recent World Series title.

It prompted him to recall his two CIF 3-A grid championships with

Loara, which also led to a Disneyland celebration.

Hill said he enjoys visiting with coaches like Al Irwin, a former

OCC grid coach, at the annual Orange County coaches’ get-together in

January.

He also favors the old days of fishing in the summers with

coaching friends along the Madison River in Montana. “It was a great

place to relax,” he mused.

His dad, Herb Hill, Sr., helped build the family name over the

years with the Herb Hill Santa Ana clothing store after his

grandfather had launched it downtown. Actor John Wayne and many other

harbor area residents often shopped there, he recalled.