More Than A Game:

Jeff Brinkley didn’t initiate football success at Newport Harbor High. But in the 24 seasons since he arrived from Norwalk High, the respected head coach has made the Sailors’ program a brand name in Orange County athletics and beyond.

Mention “Newport Football” — the stacked white, all-capital-letter silk screen that appears on the chest of the blue, sun-faded, sweat-stained T-shirts the Sailors players wear under their uniforms and over their explosive might, honed in the weight room — and the image crystallizes quickly: Basic schemes carried out with precision by players as hard-nosed as they are soft-spoken.

Brinkley and his band of assistant coaches, most of whom came through the program themselves, like to refer to it as “the system.”

The label filters through into the quotes issued by players, as well, often coloring their comments as vanilla as their coach’s penchant for running off tackle.

As a concept, the phrase represents proven strategies, methodically mastered. It also underscores the de-emphasis on the individual in the scope of not only the team, but the program.

Brinkley himself typically bristles at any praise delivered his way, politely deflecting such talk toward his loyal coaching colleagues, sometimes even outward to the support from the community the program has fashioned by becoming a source of perennial pride.

Of the milestone 200th victory he achieved Friday against Los Alamitos, Brinkley has scowled at, even scolded, media members who solicit his thoughts on the accomplishment, achieved by only seven others in county history.

But for these Sailors, and this system, there is clearly one figure at the helm; one commanding presence who calls the plays and calls out nearly every intolerable mistake.

In addition to a football mind of a former quarterback fed by a continuous quest for knowledge — his heroes include John Wooden, his reading list is laced with works from titans of industry, and he regularly taps football resources that branch into the NFL — it is Brinkley’s blend of passion, professionalism and humor that converge to form a leader others are gladly determined to follow.

And by following Brinkley, one regularly intersects with the path to glory.

The numbers are as impressive as the man. He has 230 career wins as a prep head coach, including stints at Excelsior and Norwalk, the latter his alma mater.

Now 200-80-3 at Newport Harbor, Brinkley has a .712 winning percentage with the Sailors. Further, even without a win in the Tars’ final four regular-season games (somewhat less likely than a Balboa Island snow storm) Brinkley will have averaged more than eight wins a season.

He has coached 47 playoff games, the equivalent of nearly five regular seasons and he has 33 postseason wins, including CIF Southern Section division championships in 1994, 1999 and 2005.

In Harbor’s 55 seasons of football before Brinkley took over, the school had 250 wins and just 11 playoff victories. The program did not notch its 200th triumph until its 47th season.

“Awesome,” Estancia High Coach Mike Bargas said of Brinkley’s latest milestone. Bargas played for and coached under Brinkley in three different decades, before taking the Eagles’ helm before the 2007 season.

“He’s a great coach, and he deserves it,” Bargas said. “He’s known for his excellence and the continuity he maintains. That’s what makes Newport Harbor such a great program.”

More than a program, really. A brand.