Laguna High School Football Coach Enters Drug Program

Former professional football star and Laguna High School coach Cedrick W. Hardman, 38, was allowed Friday to enter a drug rehabilitation program rather than face trial on a felony charge of possessing cocaine.

South Orange County Municipal Judge Richard D. Hamilton agreed to the recommendation by Hardman’s probation officer, which the district attorney’s office did not oppose.

Under state law, a conviction on the felony charge would automatically bar Hardman from coaching at Laguna High, where he was suspended as head football coach last month pending the outcome of the case.

Hardman refused to say after Friday’s hearing whether he will try to return to his job. However, his drug rehabilitation can last from six months to two years, a Probation Department spokesman said.

Some Oppose His Return

Although football team boosters and players have expressed hope that Hardman will return to head the Artists’ undefeated team, other parents in the school district are opposed.

Hardman’s part-time coaching job previously had been held by members of the school’s faculty, who also had their regular teaching duties.

Hardman, who does not teach at the school, received a $1,700 annual stipend for coaching about two or three hours a day for five months of the year, a school spokesman said.

If Hardman successfully completes the outpatient diversion program, the felony charge will be dropped, Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven B. Bickel said. If Hardman is arrested or fails to comply with the diversion program, he can be tried for the original cocaine offense.

“He is a user and abuser,” Bickel said. “He’s apparently fallen into that trap of other sports stars and fallen in with drugs.”

Hardman still faces trial for allegedly resisting arrest when two Laguna Beach police officers stopped him at about 2:45 a.m. Sept. 20 and said they found cocaine in his car. The officers, a male and female, suffered minor injuries in the scuffle, a department spokesman said.

Hardman also faces a hearing to determine whether that misdemeanor charge or the cocaine charge violates his probation. At the time, Hardman was on probation for driving without a license and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

Hardman was discharged Friday from a residential drug rehabilitation program at South Coast Medical Center in South Laguna, where he had enrolled voluntarily four days after his September arrest, defense attorney Ronald P. Kreber said. He will start the out-patient program immediately.

In court, Judge Hamilton told Hardman: “Most people are lying through their teeth” when they say they will attend drug rehabilitation programs and stay off drugs. “It’s really up to you, Mr. Hardman.”

Hamilton said that diversion programs are available because the Legislature wants accused drug offenders to avoid the stigma of a criminal conviction while getting help for their problem. But he expressed skepticism that the programs “do good in all or even a majority of the cases.”

Hardman, the No. 1 draft pick in 1970, was an All-Pro defensive end in 1971 and 1975 with the San Francisco 49ers. His National Football League playing career ended in 1981 with the Oakland Raiders, but the next year he was a player-coach with the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League.

In 1984, Hardman was selected as walk-on coach for the Laguna Beach High School team to replace head coach Dennis Haryung, who had resigned.