Pierce Hits Snag in Bid to Lure Football Coach

During more than three months of negotiations within the Los Angeles Community College District to reinstate his football program and hire a coach in 1987, Pierce College President David Wolf has found many options. He’s still looking for a solution.

“You can only turn over so many stones,” he said Thursday.

Wolf will attempt to turn the last stone today.

At the top of his agenda is a meeting with district officials in which he will mount Pierce’s final attempt to reinstate football after a one-year hiatus.

Wolf already has selected a coach. Steve Butler, a former coach at Crespi High and Valley who currently teaches at West Los Angeles College, has accepted the position. And Wolf has the money in his budget to fund the program, which was eliminated last June because of a tight budget and the lack of a qualified coach.

All he needs is a method to transfer Butler from West L.A. to Pierce. If only it were that simple.

“We’re at the mercy of factors that are not in our control,” Wolf said. “It’s not just a matter of hiring a coach.”

As a result of faculty layoffs in the district last June, intradistrict transfer of instructors is possible only on an exchange basis. Thus, if Pierce wants to bring in Butler from West L.A., one of its faculty must transfer to West L.A. Pierce cannot force anyone to transfer.

In addition, the transfer must meet West L.A.’s needs. Currently, the school needs a football coach in order to reinstate its own program that was disbanded last June.

Wolf’s has exhausted his various transfer options exhausted and with time running out, he will ask the district to make an exception and allow Butler to transfer to Pierce. Even that plea will have to sidestep potential legal conflicts outlined in the faculty union contract after the layoffs.

Wolf has met nothing but a string of failures working within those restrictions. Even a proposed three-way exchange involving Harbor College failed Thursday to receive West L.A.’s approval.

“We can’t accept anyone unless they are serious about coaching, and some of the names that have been given to me wouldn’t be appropriate for what we’re looking for,” said Charlie Sands, chairman of the physical education department at West L.A.

“The feeling by some here is that West L.A. is being looked at as the bad guy because we’re holding Steve back from transferring. That’s not the case. We want to allow Steve Butler to do what is best for him, but we also have to take care of what we need.”

Sands said West L.A. would like to have Butler coach its football program but realizes that Pierce’s proposed football budget is at least $30,000 more than West L.A.’s budget. Butler, who said he isn’t sure if he would coach at West L.A. if his transfer to Pierce fell through, doesn’t fault his colleagues.

“They’re losing a coach and they want someone in return,” he said. “I can understand that. I’m anxious to get to Pierce, but I’m not bitter at the people here. I’m just disappointed it hasn’t worked out.”

And time is running out on Pierce.

“At some point in time, we’re going to have to say we are out of time,” Wolf said. “We can’t expect Steve Butler to hang around much longer.”

Butler, however, is doing just that. He had given Pierce deadlines of Jan. 1 then Jan. 9 to arrange a transfer, but he is still waiting.

“My frustration has reached a maximum level,” he said Thursday. “It seems like such an easy thing to do, but bureaucracy is dictating that it can’t be done.”

Butler said he would have to be at Pierce by the start of the spring semester Feb. 2 to take the job. He added he might not be willing to go beyond the end of the week without a decision.

“The later it gets, the more difficult it will be to get things off the ground,” he said. “The program has been dead in the water for a year, and we’ve got to do something to salvage it.

“I’m enthusiastic, I’ve got a lot of energy and I want to take the job, but I don’t know where to turn right now.”

Neither does Wolf. With his various transfer options exhausted and time running out, he will ask the district to make an exception and allow Butler to transfer to Pierce. Even that plea will have to sidestep potential legal conflicts outlined in the faculty union contract after the layoffs.

Meanwhile, Butler waits for the final word.

“If anyone can do it, Dave Wolf can,” he said. “But my feeling is that if this can’t be accomplished, somebody needs to take a serious look at the system or the people in the system. We’re all in the same district, and if we can’t get this done, there is something very wrong here.”

Faulk ineligible: Cal Lutheran forward James Faulk has been declared academically ineligible by the NCAA. Faulk, who was averaging 11.5 points and 7.4 rebounds a game, could regain his eligibility during CLU’s interim semester, which ends in January, if he raises his grade-point average above 2.0. However, he will miss the team’s remaining five games this month.

Sitton pretty: Denise Sitton of Northridge was selected California Collegiate Athletic Assn. player of the week for her 27-point, 13-rebound performance last Friday against Cal State Los Angeles.

It was the third time this season Sitton has scored 27 points in a game. She is within 67 points of the school career record of 1,264 points set in 1975-78 by Paula Moran, who now is an assistant coach. Coach Leslie Milke ranks fifth with 910 points.

Sitton is averaging 18.4 points a game and if she maintains that pace will break the record Jan. 24 at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The 6-1 senior ranks third on the CCAA’s all-time scoring list with 1,197 points, trailing Leone Patterson of Chapman, who scored 1,614 points from 1983-86, and Vickie Mitchell of Cal Poly Pomona, who scored 1,550 points from ‘83-86. Moran played at Northridge before its women’s programs were members of the CCAA.

Sitton is also the conference’s third all-time leading rebounder with 789. Patterson leads with 900.

Pain in the back: Already without the services of starter Pat Bolden, the Northridge basketball team received another setback this week when guard Paul Drecksel was forced to miss part of two practices because of a recurring back problem.

Drecksel, who led the Matadors to a 71-64 victory over Cal State Los Angeles in their conference opener last Friday, is experiencing pain in an area under his shoulder blades.

Drecksel scored 26 points and had 12 rebounds against Cal State L.A. He has led Northridge in scoring in four of its past five games and has led the team in rebounding the past three games. The 6-4 senior is averaging 13.5 points and 5.4 rebounds a game.

Coach Pete Cassidy said Drecksel, who has a history of back problems, will play today when the Matadors play at 13th-ranked UC Riverside. “Paul is tough,” Cassidy said. “He plays with pain.”

Poll busters: Moorpark College’s women’s basketball team (10-9) moved to No. 19 in the J.C. Athletic Bureau state poll after defeating Golden West, 74-70, on Jan. 5 at Moorpark. Golden West (19-1) is ranked No. 2 in the state. Valley (15-3) is No. 5.