Carrozzo: Groomed to Coach : He Discovered His Life’s Ambition at an Early Age

Guy Carrozzo’s calling came early. He knew when he grew up he wanted to be the man on the sidelines who ran the show on the field, the man the fans, the players and the students called “Coach.”

He knew the position well because he spent his childhood watching his uncle, who was an assistant at Notre Dame High School of Riverside.

His first experience came years later as a senior at Fountain Valley. A select group of graduating players were chosen by Coach Bruce Pickford to be assistants for two weeks during spring football.

“All I did was chase balls,” Carrozzo said. “But that’s when I knew I wanted to become a coach someday.”

In his case, someday came last March when Carrozzo was named to replace Karl Gaytan as Ocean View High’s football coach. He had spent seven years at Fountain Valley, advancing from a freshman coach to Coach Mike Milner’s most trusted assistant.

Carrozzo’s years at Fountain Valley were spent preparing for the time he would take over a program. Milner was a willing participant in the launching of his career.

Carrozzo attended clinics with Milner at the University of Washington and the University of Pittsburgh. He spent countless hours discussing the game’s strategy, theories and psychology.

Milner would pose hypothetical situations and ask Carrozzo how he would deal with them. He even helped prepare him for the Ocean View position with a mock job interview.

“It was a long time coming,” Milner said. “The last couple of years here, you could tell just by looking into Guy’s eyes that it was important for him to become a head coach.”

Carrozzo, 31, was an all-Sunset League center at Fountain Valley. He didn’t play college football, but returned to Fountain Valley as a volunteer coach for the district freshman team when he was taking courses at UC Irvine.

Milner was impressed with Carrozzo’s dedication and organization. He hired Carrozzo as the school’s sophomore coach in 1979.

“When I hired Guy, I thought it was important for him to be in charge of something and learn how to structure his own staff,” Milner said. “He needed that before he joined the varsity staff.”

Carrozzo’s first team went 10-0. Among the star players were quarterback Matt Stevens, running back Rod Emery and wide receiver Joel Seay. Stevens now starts at UCLA and Emery is a backup at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

“That was a fun group,” Carrozzo said. “We worked hard and enjoyed a lot of success. That year re-enforced my desire to become a varsity coach.”

Milner elevated Carrozzo to the varsity staff the next season. He coached the defensive ends and was the kicking game coordinator. Eventually, he did everything from writing the team’s defensive playbook and charting the opponents’ offense to ordering the office supplies.

“He did things for me that no one else would do,” Milner said. “If the football office needed paper clips, he took care of it.”

Milner said Carrozzo is so organized that he plans his week on 5 by 7 cards, highlighted by different colors in degree of importance.

“If you want to have dinner with him on Saturday night, you had better call on Monday and be sure you’re the right color on the card,” Milner said.

Carrozzo arrived at Ocean View with a list of needs to begin rebuilding a program that had gone 4-16 in two seasons. The first order of business was forming a staff.

“They say when you go to buy a home, the three most important things to remember is ‘location, location, location,’ ” Carrozzo said. “In football, it’s ‘staff, staff, staff.’ I was allowed to bring in one new assistant (Bob Bell). I thought it was important to have someone who understood me and my methods already.”

Carrozzo’s methods seem to be working. The Seahawks, who have enjoyed only one winning season since the school opened in 1978, are 2-2. Milner attended Ocean View’s opening game and saw a vastly improved team.

“They were disciplined, organized and had a good concept both offensively and defensively,” Milner said. “I think what you’ll see under Guy is that Ocean View kids will take the field prepared to play.”

Carrozzo admitted he was nervous on the night of the opener.

“Nobody can be fully prepared to become a head coach,” he said. “You think you’re ready, but the job is even bigger than you anticipated. Until you do it, you’ll never know what it’s like. In some instances, you’re learning as you go.”