Costa Mesa’s Baldwin reveals hospitalization

Rick Devereux

As difficult as the Costa Mesa High football season was, it could

have been much, much worse.

“After the Huntington Beach game [Sept. 16], I came to school not

feeling well,” Coach Tom Baldwin said. “I had a pain in my chest.”

Baldwin, 73, had an irregular heartbeat and was diagnosed with an

atrial fibrillation after the Week 3 loss. He spent a night at a

hospital for observations.

“They don’t know what causes it,” Baldwin said. “Certainly stress

and fatigue are a factor.”

An atrial fibrillation can result in blood clots, which could

cause a stroke.

“This has been a very difficult year for me,” Baldwin said. “It

has been a combination of everything. [The hospitalization]

definitely scared me. I had to slow down some and give some

responsibilities to other coaches.”

Despite starting the season 0-5, the Mustangs still had an outside

chance at a CIF Southern Section Division VII playoff spot if Costa

Mesa could beat Estancia in the season finale. The Eagles won, 18-13.

Mesa missed out on a playoff berth for the second straight year,

but Baldwin said there are some positives about this season.

“Naturally the relationships with the players is one [positive],”

he said. “And the relations with the coaches and the parents are

others. But there isn’t a whole lot to be happy about this season. We

should have been, at worst, a 5-5 team headed into the playoffs.”

Baldwin took over the head coaching job after Dave Perkins was

fired six weeks before the opening game. Five assistant coaches did

not return, so Baldwin was forced to scrap together a staff in a

hurry and on short notice.

“The way things broke down at the beginning of the year was

tough,” Baldwin said. “I wasn’t able to formulate my own staff the

way I wanted.”

Costa Mesa is also under going some renovations, which left

Baldwin in less-than-ideal teaching situations.

“My classroom does not have air conditioning and it would get up

to 100 degrees in there,” he said. Baldwin teaches four economics

classes: one for limited English speakers, an advanced placement

class and two regular economics classes. “That’s a pretty full load

even without coaching.”

Baldwin said he will make a decision regarding his future as the

football coach later in the year.

“Right now, I go to being the [boys] golf coach,” he said. “I want

the golf season to start tomorrow.”