Seeking loftier perch

Patrick Laverty

How often does a high school football coach have a question about his

practice schedule and turn to Joe Paterno for an answer? How many

coaches can bank on a trip to USC during spring practice, where his

players receive a motivational talk from Trojans Coach Pete Carroll?

How many high school coaches can do this before they have even

coached a prep football game?

Not many, unless he happens to have prior experience as an

assistant coach at Penn State, a head coach at Oregon State and an

assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Craig Fertig may not have coached a high school football game

before, but the former USC quarterback knows a thing or two about the

game and he hopes that knowledge allows Estancia High to turn around

a program that has won just one game in the last two seasons, has

reached the playoffs just twice in the last 13 years and hasn’t won a

playoff game since 1980.

Changes have already become apparent since Fertig took over last

spring. He began spring practice with just 19 players, a number which

has since increased to 45. On the first day of school, interest

continued to grow.

“I had three kids come up and say, ‘Hey, we heard you’re the new

football coach,’ ” said Fertig, who immediately made an effort to

sign them up. “So the word’s getting out in the street that we’ve got

a good place to come to. We work hard, but we have some fun.”

Fertig has used that philosophy to create practices in which the

Eagles are constantly on the go, moving from one drill to another,

each of which takes up five minutes of the practice plan Fertig and

his assistants devise each day.

Watching an Estancia practice, there is no standing around. No

players are staring off into the distance. Every player is either

participating or concentrating on what the coaches are teaching,

following Fertig’s four cardinal beliefs: desire, concentration,

technique and conditioning.

“The work ethic has changed,” Fertig said. “They know that we’re

not going to stand for ‘I miss today, but I’ll play tomorrow.’ You

punch the time clock everyday.”

Now the goal is to change the scoreboard at the end of the Eagles’

games, putting more of those contests in the win column.

Fertig has no timetable to achieve that goal and insists he

doesn’t even know who the Eagles play after their season opener

against Magnolia, going back to the adage of another mentor, John

McKay, “If you don’t win the first one, you can’t win them all.”

Winning them all wasn’t a concern for Fertig and his coaching

staff when they started with the basics during spring practice. From

getting into a stance to learning how to tackle to teaching receivers

to run precise routes, Estancia’s players began at the beginning.

But the Eagles’ leader believes they have installed most of the

offense and defense, the former running primarily out of the

I-formation and the later lining up in a four-three scheme.

Despite the lack of wins the last two seasons, Estancia does have

some size and experience. It’s offensive line is bigger than those at

their Newport-Mesa counterparts and quarterback Brad Young returns to

guide the offense.

Fertig has attempted to instill a team mentality among the Eagles,

insisting that if one person makes a mistake, everyone pays the

price. Stealing a page from USC, Estancia won’t have names on the

back of its jerseys. But the players wanted to take the connection to

the Trojans further.

They asked to wear uniforms like USC, so the Eagles, who have a

similar cardinal and gold color scheme, will have gray face masks and

black shoes just like the Trojans.

“We’re going to look like them, I just hope we can play like

them,” Fertig said.

Though he hasn’t coached in roughly 20 years, Fertig isn’t

concerned about any rust. As a broadcaster for Fox Sports Net, he has

watched more tape and talked to more coaches than he ever did while

he was roaming the sidelines.

“I’ve stayed up with the game,” Fertig said. “I don’t want to

embarrass myself on television. People are looking at you and you

better know what you’re talking about.”

Fertig doesn’t want to embarrass himself at Estancia either. He

obviously has the background to turn things around, but whether the

Eagles can translate their coach’s knowledge into more victories each

season remains to be seen.

At the least, the Eagles know that Fertig has some good friends to

turn to during the rough patches that Estancia is sure to go through

on the way.