Explanations needed about coach firing
Something clearly isn’t right in the athletic department at Costa
Mesa High School.
As was detailed in a three-part investigation by the Daily Pilot
sports staff, a number of coaches have either quit or been fired, the
reasons at times vague, unclear and even approaching unbelievable.
Bob Serven started the exodus on April 3 when he resigned as boys’
basketball coach. Initially he said he made the change to spend more
time with his family; recently he has acknowledged he also left
because of a lack of summer pay for coaches and the frustrations that
came from the joint-use agreement for fields and facilities between
the city and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
In late June, Doug Deats resigned as baseball coach, and Glenn
Mitchell stepped down as boys’ and girls’ track and field coach. Both
cite family reasons for their decision.
Then, just a week ago, football coach Dave Perkins -- who had
ceased being athletic director on July 1 -- was fired, only weeks
before the season is set to begin. Perkins says the reason was a
misunderstanding with school administrators over a check from a
summer football camp that was mistakenly made out to him.
If that really is why Perkins is out -- leaving a squad of players
rudderless just when the program was on the upswing -- it isn’t good
enough. Not when three coaches have preceded him out the door. Not
when there are questions about how the city’s fields are being used,
or misused, and whether coaches are being paid appropriately for
their time and effort.
But district officials are refusing to say why they fired Perkins.
That tactic may be fair to Perkins, but it isn’t fair to his players
or the community. While they are not legally bound to explain their
actions, they should want to give an indication of their reasons in
order to stop the guessing and rumors their silence is creating.
Perkins, as anyone who has followed high school football in
Newport-Mesa knows, has angered more than a few people during his
coaching years. In May 2001, he jumped from Estancia High School,
where he’d just guided the Eagles to the playoffs, to the cross-town
rival Mustangs. A handful of players transferred with him, including
Matt Colby, who died in September 2001 after suffering injuries in a
game. There was talk about the possible “extra effort” his team put
in during the 2002 Battle of the Bell contest between Costa Mesa’s
two high schools, a game Costa Mesa High won 41-0. The team retained
the title last year by the same score.
Did any of these factors, or others, play into Perkins’ firing? If
so, school administrators, beginning with Principal Fred Navarro,
should say. And they should say sooner rather than later -- before
the worst of the rumors are repeated so often that they become the
perceived truth.
Yes, there seem to be many things that aren’t right at Costa Mesa
High. The biggest problem, though, might simply be that the community
is being kept from knowing just what is going wrong.
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