Fenwick Will Leave Pierce to Join CSUN Football Staff

Jim Fenwick, football coach at Pierce College the past five years, will step down to join the Cal State Northridge football staff as an assistant, his brother said Thursday.

Reached at his home late Wednesday night, Fenwick said he would have “nothing to say” until he met with Pierce President David Wolf today.

Chad Fenwick, defensive coordinator at Pierce, said his brother wanted to meet with the team and Wolf before making an announcement.

“He has told the people at Northridge that he will coach there, but in the back of his mind, I think he wants to talk to the president first,” Chad Fenwick said.

Wolf, who attended an administrative retreat Thursday at UCLA, said he was aware that a note from Fenwick had been delivered to his office.

“Certainly, Jim and I have talked about some of his future goals, and I support him in them,” Wolf said. “However, whatever conclusions he has come to I am not certain.”

Pierce Athletic Director Bob O’Connor acknowledged that Fenwick had talked about accepting the CSUN position late last week, but added, “He hasn’t told me anything officially.”

After Pierce went 2-8 in 1982, Fenwick accepted the coaching job at El Camino College, only to change his mind and return to the Woodland Hills school.

Pierce is 28-5 with three Southern California Conference titles in the past three years. Fenwick, 33, is 35-18 overall at Pierce.

“The hardest part for both of us is the kids and the relationships we have gotten into with them,” Chad Fenwick said. “We keep saying we’ll stay on one more year because we have a good group of kids we want to work with, but each year, a great, new group of kids comes in.

“You have to stop and say, ‘Hey, these kids are great, but I have to do what I think is best for myself.’ ”

Chad Fenwick said his brother has aspired to coach at a four-year school before, but that his lack of experience at that level has held him back.

“I think he’s always had it in his mind that he wanted to go to a four-year school,” he said. “We’ve talked about it, and it’s real hard for him to leave because of the success he’s had.

“But everybody has to decide what they can do to better themselves. He’s going on to try to do that.”

Three assistant coaching positions--wide receivers, running backs and defensive ends--have yet to be filled at CSUN under new coach Bob Burt.

Jim Fenwick, who was a running back at Pierce when Mark Harmon was the quarterback, returned to his alma mater in 1973 as an assistant.