High school fires coach

Roger Carlson

Costa Mesa High School’s football team, about six weeks away from the

start of the 2004 season, is without a head coach following the

dismissal of Dave Perkins on Friday.

“I’m done,” Perkins, 52, said late Friday night. “I’ve talked to

my union representative and am exploring the possibilities of a

transfer [within the district].”

Perkins, who is without a coaching post for the first time in 30

years, said he was fired because of a misunderstanding with school

administration over a check from a summer football camp that was

mistakenly made out to him. Perkins said the check was intended for

the school’s booster program and was only supposed to say,

“Attention: Dave Perkins.”

The five-day summer camp includes about 170 youngsters ages 8 to

16, and involves about 20 coaches. The camp was on the Costa Mesa

campus.

District Assistant Supt. Jaime Castellanos said that Perkins will

not return.

“I cannot get into reasons for his dismissal,” he said. “The best

I can do is confirm he will not be back.”

Perkins, who has guided the Mustangs for the past three years and

compiled a 20-12 record with two appearances in the CIF Playoffs and

one league championship, said he would address his team for the last

time on Monday at 4 p.m.

He said he did not know who his successor will be, but three names

surfaced during Friday night’s interview: Former Costa Mesa head

coaches Tom Baldwin and Jerry Howell, and Mike Roark. Roark’s most

recent posts were as head coach at Whittier Christian High School and

as an offensive coordinator at Pasadena City College. Roark and

Perkins met on the field as opposing coaches in Perkins’ first year

at Costa Mesa. And, his wife, Jennifer, is a teacher at Costa Mesa.

It is not known if any of the three are interested in the job.

A product of Newport Harbor High School, Perkins has been in

education for the past 27 years as a physical education teacher. His

first job was as an assistant at Newport Harbor from 1974 to 1977

before catching on at Imperial High School for two years. He went to

La Sierra High School in 1980, became the head coach in 1983 and

continued until 1987.

A two-year run at Corona High School preceded two years at

Redlands, two years at Upland, four years at San Bernardino and three

years at Estancia before a controversial switch to crosstown rival

Costa Mesa in 2001. In all, he was the head coach for the past 21

years at seven schools.

The move from Estancia to Costa Mesa in the spring of 2001

included the transfer of seven Estancia football players, among them

his son, A.J., a junior quarterback, and linebacker, Matt Colby.

In September, during a nonleague game at Westminster High School

against Ocean View High School, Colby collapsed on the sidelines, and

later that night, he was pronounced brain-dead at the hospital. He

died the next day.

Perkins, always known as a fiery and vocal coach, was twice named

Coach of the Year, once for Riverside County when his Corona team won

the 1989 CIF Division V championship, and once for San Bernardino

County.

Perkins said he had already decided that 2004 would be his final

year as the Mustangs coach.

“I was looking ahead to it. It was going to be a good year,” he

said. “I’m curious about who will get the job.”

* Staff Writer Steve Virgen contributed to this story.