Grimes Is ‘God’ at North Hollywood

For the first time in three years, the North Hollywood High football team is fighting for a spot in the playoffs--instead of just fighting.

Discipline and respect have been restored to a once-proud program that had become the Pac 8 League’s black sheep, reputed to have as little self-restraint as a Texas booster.

Against University last season, two North Hollywood players started a fight with each other. In the same game, one of the players threw a helmet at one of his own coaches.

Fighting among themselves was a new twist for the Huskies, who were no strangers to brawls. A bench-clearing fight in the fourth quarter brought an end to a 1983 game against Verdugo Hills, according to the school’s 1984 yearbook.

Football hasn’t been a conversation piece at school, partly because of a 4-14 record the past two seasons and partly because of an attitude. Players said it was hard to take the sport seriously when even “team captains were screwing around.”

Enter Coach Fred Grimes.

The team is 3-0-1, its best start since 1973. Grimes has the players running harder and farther, and better and faster. Most players don’t dread practice anymore.

“Grimes Is God” has become a secret motto among the players.

Since the arrival of the rookie coach, the North Hollywood program has become a source of pride for the school. Attendance at games is rising, and tonight’s game against University is being televised by Group W Cable.

Grimes became available when he lost his job as assistant at Pierce College after the Woodland Hills school dropped its football program last winter. Although he was unemployed, Grimes was hesitant about taking the North Hollywood job in February.

A popular coach among the faculty was on the way out, and Grimes was told he would be walking into a “snake pit.”

“My friends said there were a lot of back-stabbers here,” Grimes said. “Some said that the administration didn’t want a winning football team.”

Former Principal Wilbert Whitaker demanded the resignation of Coach Fred Neilson, who had asked to remain one more season after 12 years at the job. Neilson, who coached the Huskies to three of their five league titles in the 1970s, had the support of several teachers, and faculty aggravation grew when a staff member had to be transferred to make room for Grimes.

Richard Kunes, a dean in charge of athletics at North Hollywood last year who now works at Verdugo Hills High, said Neilson had lost control of the program. Parents would not send their football-playing children to North Hollywood because the program was in disarray, Kunes said. He added that parents petitioned at home games for Neilson’s dismissal.

“The program needed a shot in the arm, and I felt Grimes was the person to do it,” said Kunes, who had worked with Grimes at Manual Arts (1976-78) and Granada Hills (‘82). “The program lacked discipline and organization. That wasn’t just my opinion, I was getting information from parents.”

Neilson, who remains a physical education teacher at North Hollywood, denied the team lacked discipline. Poor talent caused the demise, he said.

“The thing that gets me is the total unfairness of it all,” he said. “I had no hearing, no opportunity to defend myself. I haven’t gotten over it yet. In a way, I’m glad I’m out of the whole mess.”

Grimes does not feel fully accepted by the faculty.

“No one has actually said anything to me, but I get certain vibes,” Grimes said. “I get the idea that some people around here don’t particularly care for me. I expected it, and I’ve tried to deal with it.”

But upon arriving at North Hollywood, Grimes was more concerned with uplifting team morale.

“When I came here in February the first thing that hit me was that there was a losing attitude,” he said. “The kids didn’t want to work.”

So Grimes established a rigorous spring workout program, one that had been missing for at least two years, players said. He increased the size of the coaching staff with volunteer assistants and made it tougher for players to stay on the team. Athletes consistently absent in the spring have played little in the fall. Starters who miss a practice during the week will sit a while at the end of it.

Mark Stanford, a tailback with enough talent to start, doesn’t because he has missed at least one practice a week, Grimes said.

Grimes also started a grade check. Each Friday, players must show teachers’ verification that they are completing assignments. Players with academic deficiencies two straight weeks will be benched, he said.

The demands have increased as has the success. And no one’s complaining.

“Last year I wasn’t totally sure why I was out there, and if it was what I really wanted,” said Steve Chuck, who had quit the team in 1985 as a junior. “I think that was the case with a lot of players.

“The thing that struck me the most this year was that on the first day of practice there were four coaches instead of just two. This year everyone is able to do something all the time, instead of having 45 guys stand around while the coaches work with the offensive line.”

Grimes is excited because he is winning with a team that many thought was a year away from being competitive. The Huskies have only 12 seniors, five who start. The other 17 starting spots are filled by sophomores and juniors, who account for 70% of the team.

Through four games this season, the Huskies have won in a big way, outscoring opponents, 91-48. North Hollywood has the Valley-area’s highest rushing average per game (240) among City Section teams. The Huskies’ rushing defense (40 yards per game) also ranks first.

“We had a lot of talent last year,” said Rob Neason, a senior who starts at center and linebacker. “We just didn’t have any coaching. I’m not surprised by the turnaround. This year there’s no screwing around.”

Said Grimes: “We’re a junior team, but I refuse to sit back and say this will be a rebuilding year. I’ve got to keep in my mind that this is a very young team.”

North Hollywood’s inexperience was visible two weeks ago in a 6-6 tie against Grant, a team that is only 1-2-1. The Huskies struggled, then missed an extra point late in the game.

That disappointment pales next to those of last season, considering that one of North Hollywood’s two wins was a 3-2 victory.

“Except for the fact that this is my senior year and I want to get out of here,” Neason said, “I’d love to keep playing for Coach Grimes. I’d run through a wall if he asked me to.

“Coach Grimes doesn’t know it, but we have a basic saying, ‘Grimes is God.’ If we don’t understand something we still go along with it. Everybody holds a lot of respect for the coaching staff. They’ve tried to make the team a family unit.”