Colorful Career Closes as Lester Decides to Retire

Before the 1985 season began, Bob Lester, El Modena High School football coach, promised himself that this would be a kick-back kind of year--that he wasn’t going to get too excited on Friday nights, and that he wasn’t going to lose any sleep worrying about what play to call on third and short.

Entering his 20th season as the Vanguards’ coach, Lester, 55, figured he would delegate most of the workload to his fine group of assistants, oversee the operation, and try to relax and enjoy football for a change.

“That lasted about a minute and a half,” Lester said.

The season, which ended with last week’s 14-13 loss to Santa Ana in the Southern Conference semifinals, had every ounce of stress that his previous 19 at El Modena had. He put in just as many hours on the weekends, just as much work, and just as much worry.

It was this kind of stress that Lester acknowledged as the main reason he decided to resign Tuesday, after compiling a 157-58-8 record and winning three Southern Conference championships in two decades at the school.

“It has been 30 years in the business and the time has come where I don’t need it anymore,” said Lester, El Modena’s only football coach. “It’s not that it hasn’t been a marvelous experience--it certainly has--but I’m getting more selfish with my time.

“I want to do some of the things I haven’t done in 30 years, such as hunt in the fall, take a full summer off, not excrete so much stomach acid in the fall . . . I would like to get away from football film forever. I’ve probably spent literally years watching film.”

Jack Elsner, El Modena principal, said that he won’t name a replacement until January.

It’s not the game that Lester is leaving. It’s all the work that goes into it--the two-a-day practices in the summer, the endless hours in the film room--and the worry that comes with the pressure of maintaining one of Orange County’s most powerful programs.

“It’s not easy to sever something that’s been important to you for so long, but I know that on the weekends, when everyone else is out playing, we’re here 10 hours Saturday and 10 hours Sunday, watching film and eating Jack-in-The-Box hotdogs,” Lester said. “It has also been harder and harder to lose. I don’t like to lose, and it gets to the point where you tend to dwell on the negative. Even when you have a good win, the whole thinking is, ‘What went wrong in the win? Why did we give up 129 yards? Why did two drives stall?’ I’m tired of that.”

Lester began his coaching career at La Veta High in Colorado in 1956, where he spent four seasons before moving to Colorado’s Salido High for two years. He then spent a year as a graduate assistant at Colorado’s Adams State College before moving to Duarte High to become head coach in 1963.

In his 20 years at El Modena, Lester has had just two losing seasons, in 1969 (2-6-1) and 1973 (3-5-1). The Vanguards won their first Southern Conference championship in 1978 when they defeated Pacifica, 20-6, and they won back-to-back titles in 1983 (10-7 over Foothill) and 1984 (26-0 over Esperanza).

El Modena also lost two championship games in overtime, the first in 1980 to Lynwood (14-13), and the second in 1981 to Foothill (21-14). Lester’s career coaching record is 213-86-10, for a winning percentage of .706.

Though Lester listed stress as a reason for retiring, most perceive him as one of the county’s most easygoing, relaxed coaches.

Other coaches surely envy his staff, which includes 20-year assistants Glenn Lukenbill and Bob Radford, 18-year assistant Dale Arambel, 12-year assistants Pete Parker and Bill Backstrom, and 5-year assistant Al Clinton. But while Lester admits that his staff does most of the coaching, many final decisions rest on his shoulders.

“In the end, the ultimate responsibility comes back to me,” Lester said.

The stress never seemed to affect Lester, though. If it did, he masked it well with his sense of humor. He always has been the type to joke around at practice, and he’s always been a hit with the media, often providing reporters with funny one-liners.

A sampling from the Best of Lester file:

--In 1981, when it was announced that El Modena would be playing Edison, which was accused of recruiting players from outside the district: “It’s in our contract that after Edison gets 40 points, they’ve got to play all kids from Huntington Beach.”

--On the prospect of facing long-time friend Ted Mullen, coach at rival Foothill High, in the 1983 Southern Conference final: “I’d just as soon see someone else over there besides Ted’s ugly face.”

--On Foothill’s Joe Walshe, who had a mustache and weighed 270 pounds when he starred at defensive end for the Knights in 1983: “He’s a helluva football player, which he ought to be considering he’s 35.”

Lester had great rapport with his assistant coaches and players. Perhaps, running back Jim Torok paid him the ultimate compliment in 1981, when he said:

“He’s the best. Every time he talks, he makes me feel so good . . . puts a smile on my face. He’s been like a second father to me.”

Said Lukenbill, an assistant: “This is the end of an era and a lot of good times. I hate to see it go, but you know it has to happen. He’s had such a good thing going with the parents and the players, it’s tough to see him leave.”

Lester, who said he will remain at the school for at least three more years as a physical education teacher, was hired the same year that Mullen was named athletic director at El Modena. The pair worked together for three years before Mullen left to coach at Villa Park.

Mullen eventually made it to Foothill, where the Knight-Vanguard rivalry in the Century League and in the playoffs evolved as one of the county’s best. All of the ribbing that went on between the coaches before their games became known as “The Ted and Bob Show.”

“The aura surrounding our game and the fun of the challenge will be a little lost for us,” Mullen said. “The rivalry won’t be the same without him. Bob is kind of a classic guy, and his resignation is a loss for Orange County football.”

And a loss for The Ted and Bob Show, which can now only be seen in reruns.

Bob Lester at El Modena

1966 5-3-1

1967 4-4-1

1968 7-1-1

1969 2-6-1

1970 7-2

1971 6-4

1972 6-3

1973 3-5-1

1974 7-3

1975 9-2

1976 8-3-1

1977 4-4-1

1978 12-1

1979 10-3

1980 11-3

1981 9-5

1982 11-1-1

1983 12-2

1984 13-1

1985 11-2

Totals 157-58-8

Other Schools:

La Veta High School (Colo.): 24-12-2 (1956-59)

Salido High School (Colo.): 15-6 (1960-61)

Duarte High School (Calif.): 17-10 (1963-66)