Swearingen Prefers Relaxed Style

While most football coaches spent Sunday bleary eyed, shut in a room trying to analyze their next opponent’s blitzing tendencies, Saddleback College’s Ken Swearingen spent his morning studying the blintz selection in the brunch line.

Taking Sunday off is not unusual at Saddleback; it’s a regular part of an off-beat program.

Swearingen does not believe in two-a-day practices in preseason. His spring and summer programs are optional. So is offseason weight training. The team runs sprints in the middle of practice, not at the end.

He watches game films once a week. His coaching staff meets for only 4 1/2 hours on Monday to prepare for Saturday’s opponent. His game plan is contained on a single sheet of paper.

About the only thing he does in a conventional manner is win.

His Gauchos are 10-0, ranked second in the nation, and will meet Orange County rival Fullerton in the PONY Bowl Saturday with a possible national championship at stake.

In 24 seasons, his teams are 190-44-6. In 10 seasons at Saddleback, his teams have finished first in the Mission Conference nine times. He coached El Camino to a 93-31-5 record in 13 seasons before moving to Saddleback and led the Warriors to a state championship in 1971.

Not bad for a man who could make a paper airplane from his whole game plan.

Swearingen did nothing to change his reputation as a relaxed coach during the Thanksgiving weekend when he went skiing and gave his players four days off.

“Laid-back is a personality trait to me,” Swearingen, 52, said. “We may not be working as long as other people, but the time we put in is quality time. We get out there, get the job done and leave.

“I’ve always thought most people over-coach. They think they have to do everything in the world to win. All you can control is your time. Once the kids get on the field, they have to make the plays. You can’t.”

Swearingen began developing his style as a player under Norm Verry at El Camino and then played at College of the Pacific. He was an All-Coast halfback in 1955, later became an assistant coach at El Camino and became head coach in 1962 after Verry died.

Under Verry, Swearingen began to consider alternative coaching methods.

The Gauchos abandoned the huddle this season after a conversation between Swearingen and defensive coordinator Vince McCullough during a trip to Canada over the summer.

“We were talking and I asked Vince what it would do to his defense if, on third down, a team went without a huddle,” Swearingen said.

McCullough’s answer: “I told him it would cause all kinds of problems. There would be no way we could make the adjustments in time. We could not get all our right people in to fit the situation.”

So it was decided then that the Gauchos would not use a huddle--on any down.

In Saddleback’s first game this season, the El Camino defense had no time to prepare for the Gauchos’ offense in the first half and Saddleback built a 41-6 lead.

In the new system, quarterback Jason Schmid has the play signaled in from the sidelines in one of three forms. A specific play is called, a series, or just an offensive formation Schmid uses until he looks at the defense and calls an audible.

“It’s what you do after the ball is snapped that matters,” Swearingen said. “It’s not a gimmick. We use it as a way of neutralizing defenses.”

There is no playbook at Saddleback. Swearingen has the offensive game plan on a piece of standard notebook paper, and McCullough has a similar sheet for the defense.

These sheets are drawn up during a Monday planning meeting that starts at 8 a.m. and must end by 12:30, when practice starts.

Swearingen doesn’t spend a lot of time watching films.

“How much can you look at film?” Swearingen said. “I only look at them once. Now my staff, they might look at them a little more.”

Assistant coach Seamus Callanan, who played at Saddleback in 1977-78, said: “Kenny’s developed an eye for film most coaches will never have. He can see things in one showing that most coaches would have to watch a bunch of times to see.”

When Swearingen talks about his team, he speaks only of positions, not players. Heroics are expected at Saddleback, not heroes.

“At our practices everybody has their helmet snapped on, shirts are all the same and tucked in,” Swearingen said. “We don’t allow individuality, but we give them reasons for it.

“Hey, we’re one team; if you don’t want to sacrifice your individuality, then go play another sport like golf.”

Players coming to Saddleback are told this when recruited. But recruiting is not one of Swearingen’s favorite parts of coaching.

“All the terrible things you read about college athletics are caused by recruiting,” he said. “We don’t run anybody else’s program down, we just say, ‘Hey this is what we have, if it does not fit you, then fine, go somewhere else.’ ”

Swearingen has found a faithful following in his group of assistants. His has eight staff members with more than 100 years of experience.

McCullough, who has been coaching for 21 years, including 17 at Saddleback, said: “Success comes in all kinds of packages . . . but I like this package.”

Linebacker coach Don Butcher worked for a professional scouting organization before coming to Saddleback. He credited Swearingen with teaching him a great deal more about the game.

“We’re family,” he said. “And it’s fun. The kids come first and when you work around Ken you know that.”

Callanan is back for his third year after leaving to be an assistant at Newport Harbor last season. He has been a player and coach under Swearingen.

“The kids have a genuine idea of what he’s all about,” he said. “He’s the same guy I know as a coach that I knew as a player.”

It is easy to have such an approach to coaching when your team wins, but Swearingen is not so sure winning is everything.

“I don’t believe winning should be the the most important element in educational athletics,” Swearingen said. “But only winners can really criticize winning. In my time of coaching we have never really lost.

“But if we did, I’d probably be coaching 24 hours a day.”

Swearingen’s Record At El Camino College

Year Record 1962 7-2 1963 5-4 1964 6-3 1965 5-3-1 1966 5-2-2 1967 8-1 1968 10-1 1969 7-2 1970 6-3 1971 11-1& 1972 8-1-1 1973 6-3 1974 8-1-1 1975 6-4

At Saddleback College

1976 6-3 1977 10-1 1978 9-2 1979 10-1 1980 9-1 1981 11-0 1982 9-2 1983 9-1-1 1984 9-2 1985 10-0

Totals: 24 Years 190-44-6

--conference champion

&--state champion

11 Conference championships, 1 state championship