Blair puts out ‘Coach Wanted’ sign ... make that three signs
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Blair Athletic Director Gamal Smalley has a difficult job ahead of him as he tries to hire three head coaches, but it can’t be any more difficult than having two coaches resign on the same day.
Amid accusations that the administration wasn’t providing them with sufficient support, football coach Lavell Sanders and girls’ basketball coach David Jensen both resigned on Monday.
One of the great stories of last fall was the return of Blair to football prominence. It wasn’t quite to the level of the Blair Pair years, but not too far from it. Blair had been 2-18 over the previous two seasons, before finishing 9-2 last fall. Sanders, 54, was named the Pasadena Star News football coach of the year for his role in the turnaround.
Jensen, 39, oversaw a similar turnaround in the girls’ basketball program. After going 1-29 over the three seasons before his arrival, Blair went 20-6, won the Rio Hondo league title and participated in the Division II-AA playoff this season. Jensen was the PSN’s girls’ basketball coach of the year.
Smalley is also looking for a girls’ volleyball coach. Blair’s girls’ volleyball team has not been very good the last four seasons. They’ve compiled a record of 6-33-1 and have not won a league game during that time. They were 2-10 this season.
-- Jaime Cardenas