Community College Football : Orange Coast’s Tucker Puts His Future on Hold

A few weeks from now, Dick Tucker will be on one of his favorite golf courses, or on a beach at Maui, away from it all.

Only then will Tucker, 58, decide whether he will return as Orange Coast College’s football coach for a 25th season next fall.

The decision will be Tucker’s. Dr. Donald R. Bronsard, Orange Coast president, and Sue Brown, OCC dean of health and physical education, have said that they will not ask Tucker to step down even though the Pirates are at the end of their seventh consecutive losing season.

“At this point, I would say I will be back,” Tucker said. “But I have to evaluate the situation in my own mind, and I haven’t made a final decision. I won’t do that until after the season is over.”

Tucker is the dean of Orange County coaches. In 11 seasons at Brea-Olinda High School, his teams won two Southern Section championships. He moved to Orange Coast in 1962 and won national championships in 1963 and 1975, four conference championships and has compiled a record of 128-102-5.

But the Pirates haven’t won more than four games in a season since 1978. They were 2-8 in 1979, 2-8 in 1980, 3-7 in 1981, 0-10 in 1982, 4-5-1 in 1983 and 4-6 last year.

Tucker had high hopes for the 1985 season. He believed he had a strong team, maybe good enough to challenge for the Mission Conference title. Instead, he has experienced his most trying season. Going into the final game against Rancho Santiago tonight, Orange Coast is 1-7-1.

“I’m personally disappointed that we haven’t had more success this year,” he said. “We have some really fine individual players, like (fullback) Chris Mendenhall, (quarterback) Ken Laszlo and (punter) Gordon Moss. We have some of the best players this year at certain positions we’ve ever had at this school, and I feel very badly for them that they haven’t been able to enjoy some wins.

“I’ve looked at our films a thousand times, and I can’t put a finger on what’s wrong. The truth is, except for the Fullerton game (a 54-9 loss), we’ve been in every game. We lost to Saddleback (27-15), like everyone else has, but we were the only team to hold them under 30 points.”

Part of the reason for Orange Coast’s fall has been declining high school enrollment in the in the Coast Community College District. Enrollment at nearby high schools such as Costa Mesa, Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor and Estancia has dropped by as much as 50% in the last decade.

In 1975, when Orange Coast went 11-0 and won the national championship, it had more than 100 players on its roster. This year, the roster is down to 54.

Some opposing coaches have speculated that another part of Orange Coast’s problem is that Tucker and his four full-time assistants (all of whom have been with him for at least 11 years) don’t have the desire to win anymore. But the Pirate coaches say that just isn’t true.

“We’re working harder, harder than ever before,” George Mattias, in his 23rd year as offensive line coach, said. “We work every day during the season. We even work eight hours on Sunday.

“The results just aren’t showing that. I guess its easy for others to say we’ve lost our desire when we’re not winning, but it’s not true.”

Said Dale Wanacott, in his 24th year as offensive backs coach: “I know we haven’t done much lately, but we have the same coaching staff we had when we were the national champions. It’s our personnel that has changed, not the coaching.”

Bronsard and Brown recently presented Tucker with proposals to help rejuvenate the program. The proposals focused on more aggressive recruiting of local players and less expensive housing for student-athletes.

Tucker, who is also Orange Coast’s athletic director and golf coach, was receptive. He admitted that if it looks as though the proposals may help the Pirates significantly next season, he might return in order to end his career on a winning note.

“I’ve been in the business too long to feel sorry for myself,” Tucker said. “When we were the team to beat, I didn’t walk around like I had a crown on my head or feel like I was someone special. And now that we’re not doing as well, I don’t feel like I’m at the bottom of the barrel.

“But I’ve said before I’d only coach while it remained fun, and it’s not very fun when you’re losing. To put in all the preparation and not get results is very hard to take.”

In community college football games today:

MISSION CONFERENCE

Rancho Santiago (3-4, 5-4) vs. Orange Coast (1-6, 1-7-1), LeBard Stadium, 7:30--A win or tie will give the Dons their second consecutive winning season. Last week, Rancho Santiago outgained conference champion Saddleback, 512 yards to 298, but had six turnovers in the second half and lost, 39-32. Dave Ogas, Rancho Santiago coach, has already put that defeat out of his mind and is concentrating on Orange Coast. “This is a great rivalry with a long tradition,” Ogas said. “They’re our next-door neighbors and we sometimes recruit at the same high schools, so it is a big recruiting game for us.” Orange Coast, which is coming off a 35-21 defeat to Citrus, leads the series, 19-15, but has lost three straight to the Dons, including last year’s 35-24 setback on Thanksgiving.

Saddleback--Bye

PAC-9 CONFERENCE

Fullerton (6-1, 7-2) vs. Long Beach City (1-5-1, 1-7-1), Veterans Stadium, 7:30--The Hornets, who accepted an invitation on Sunday to play undefeated Saddleback in the PONY Bow Dec. 7, can clinch a second consecutive Pac-9 championship with a win. After opening conference play with a 24-0 loss to Cerritos, Fullerton has won six straight, including last week’s 33-19 victory over Mt. San Antonio. Fullerton is ranked No. 7 in the nation and No. 2 in the Southland.