Football, Basketball to Return to Pierce

When Marian McWilliams took over as men’s athletic director at Pierce College in July, two weeks after the football and basketball programs had been eliminated in a budget squeeze, she said her top priority was to reinstate both sports within two years.

In early October, McWilliams set a deadline of two weeks for bringing back both sports for the 1987-88 school year.

Two weeks has since turned to almost two months, but Pierce is still intent on restoring both programs. Both could officially be reinstated by the end of the week, according to Richard Moyer, the dean who oversees intercollegiate athletics at Pierce.

“If we can make the decision by Jan. 1,” Moyer said, “I feel confident that we will have adequate time to have both programs in place by the start of the fall semester.”

Pierce has already selected the coaches it would like to run the teams. Steve Butler, former Valley College and Crespi High head coach and presently an instructor at West Los Angeles College, is the leading choice as football coach. Jim Stephens, women’s basketball coach at Valley and former men’s coach at Pierce, has been offered the basketball job.

Phil Lozano, athletic director at Mission College, has also been contacted about the football position. But Moyer said Wednesday that Butler and Stephens have the jobs if they want them.

First, however, the Los Angeles Community College District must approve their transfers. In June, two physical education teachers were laid off as part of district-wide cutbacks of faculty and staff. As a result, intradistrict transfers of instructors are prohibited under the district’s contract with the faculty union.

An increase in the district’s enrollment, however, is expected to prompt the rehiring of both instructors, which in turn would allow for Butler and Stephens to be transferred, a district official said.

Meanwhile, everyone waits.

“We’re on hold,” Butler said. “It’s kind of disconcerting right now because we can’t solidify anything. I’d like to get going as soon as possible.”

Butler, who was coach at Crespi in 1972 and 1973 and at Valley from 1977 to ‘79, said Pierce would be behind other schools in recruiting for the 1987 season. But given Pierce’s 28-5 record and three consecutive conference championships in the three seasons prior to the elimination of the program, Butler foresees no problems in attracting football players back to Pierce.

“In another college setting, it might not be as easy, but Pierce has had such an outstanding tradition over the last several years that I think it is one school that can overcome some of the setbacks,” Butler said.

Stephens coached the Pierce men’s team to Metro Conference championships in 1983 and 1984. He previously coached the Valley men’s team from 1974 through 1982. Stephens took over the Valley women’s team last season and led it to a 19-11 record and the state tournament.

“I thought the women would be less pressure, but that’s not the case,” Stephens said. “I still put the same pressure on myself to win, so I might as well coach the men.”

The reinstatement of football and basketball may mean the end of as many as five other programs at Pierce, Moyer said. Bob Chambers, coach of the cross-country and track teams for men and women, has asked to step down, and he may not be replaced. In addition, women’s basketball was dropped before the start of the 1985-86 season because not enough players signed up for the team.

“We don’t want to bring back football and basketball at the expense of other sports,” Moyer said. “But we have some concern whether we will have a full compliment of athletes for other programs, and we might drop those sports.”