DOES FATHER KNOW BEST? : Rick Haines and Torrey Pines to Challenge Vista and Dick Haines

VISTA--When Dick Haines had his son Rick over for dinner the other night, he might have been accused of having ulterior motives.

“I tried to pump him about the game,” Dick said, “but he wouldn’t talk about it.”

The Game, in this case, is not one of those climactic showdowns. It isn’t really a showdown at all.

Except in one sense.

It is a game with “All in the Family” theme. It will match Coach Dick Haines’ Vista High School Panthers against Coach Rick Haines’ Torrey Pines Falcons. Father’s team will meet son’s team Friday night at 7:30 at Vista.

“This whole thing is being blown all out of proportion,” Rick said. “It’s not between me and Dick. It’s between Torrey Pines and Vista.”

He’s right, of course, but the essence of this confrontation is not the consequence of the game but rather the coincidence of having father-son head coaches on the opposite sides of the field.

Both of these teams are in the Palomar League, but this game is not going to settle the championship. Father, in his 15th year at Vista, has an established program. The Panthers areoff to a 4-0 start and are ranked third in the county. Son, in his first year at Torrey Pines, is trying to rebuild the program. The Falcons are off to a 1-3 start.

Of this game, Dick said: “I don’t look forward to it. If I had my choice, I’d rather not have to play it. Rick has a new job and he’s trying to get a program going. I know that he does what he does better than I do.” Dick Haines has been doing what he does quite well for quite some time, and his son is not about to let too much praise get directed away from his father--even if his father is doing the directing.

“Dick might be the best football coach in the nation,” Rick said. “If not, he’s one of the top two or three. He knows I respect his ability. I have a lot of admiration for him. That’s not prejudice. He’s amazing.”

Football has brought the Haines together but also driven them apart--at least geographically.

When Dick was the coach at Dover High in Dover, Ohio, in the mid-1960s, Rick was one of his players. When Rick got into coaching, he was an assistant for five years at Fallbrook before going to Gardner, Kan., and then Leavenworth, Tex., for head coaching positions.

Dick, in the meantime, had built a perennial contender at Vista, and his son came back last year as defensive coordinator.

When the head coaching position opened at Torrey Pines, Rick Haines got it. He took over a team that was 2-3-1 in Palomar League play and 5-4-1 overall last year.

Under the younger Haines, Torrey Pines has lost its three games by a combined total of 11 points.

“We gave Mount Carmel and Dana Hills tough games,” Rick said. “It’s the classic quote. The best team didn’t win. It could never be truer. We made the mental mistakes that come with a new program. I’m happy with the program, but not happy with the results.”

The kinds of mistakes that come from program changes have long been absent from Vista, but Dick Haines has experienced the phenomenon many times in his 34 years of coaching.

“Whenever there’s a changing of the guard, it’s a tough building process,” Dick Haines said. “I started new about five times and each time it takes the kids a while to figure out what’s going on, at least until you establish a foundation.

“I told Rick that he’d have to be patient. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Overnight, however, is just the time remaining for Rick Haines to prepare Torrey Pines for the favored Vista team. He is looking forward to the game itself.

“Vista week is always a special week,” Rick said. “Vista is everybody’s big game. They’re difficult team to defense because they do a lot of things offensively. But it’s a team you like to play because they don’t do Mickey Mouse things.”

Vista, the CIF San Diego Section 3-A runnerup last fall, is rolling once again. The Panthers have outscored their opponents, 132-35. This is definitely not a rebuilding year for them.

“I’ve always said,” Rick said, “Vista doesn’t rebuild. They re-load.” This is where coaches traditionally pat their opponents on the backs, and it should be no different with father and son.

“I expect a real competitive football game,” Dick said. “I’ve got to be honest. We’ll probably be favored. But every pro or high school football weekend, somebody gets bombed who isn’t supposed to. And Rick will have his team ready. If we’re not completely ready, we’ll be in for a long day.”

This will be the first time these two fellows have met as head coaches. It is a novelty this time, and they will have to endure a little extra attention because it is really kind of special.

Rick Haines, for one, hopes to enjoy the longevity at Torrey Pines that his father has enjoyed at Vista--longevity that has made this matchup possible.

Of Torrey Pines, Rick said: “I hope they bury me here.”

Rick Haines just doesn’t want Torrey Pines buried. Not by Vista, not by anybody.