Ferragamo Is Leaving Banning to Take Over Harbor Program

Chris Ferragamo won’t have the Los Angeles City high schools to kick around anymore.

Ferragamo, 46, who coached Banning High School in Wilmington to eight City 4-A football titles in 11 years and an unprecedented six in a row from 1976-81, announced Wednesday that he is leaving Banning to head the program at nearby Harbor Community College, also in Wilmington.

Ferragamo, a Wilmington native who played at Banning and was an All-American lineman at Harbor in 1959, stressed his local ties and reputation as the cornerstone in his plan to rejuvenate the beleaguered program.

Ferragamo, who had a 158-35-4 record at Banning, replaces George Swade, who resigned after 10 years as Harbor’s coach.

A year ago, the Los Angeles Community College District said that Harbor’s program would not be funded, and Swade didn’t know until June whether he would have a team. Though Harbor had a surprisingly good 6-3 season, Swade referred to the stress of the situation and the general lack of support in his resignation.

Among the problems in recent years has been an inability to recruit local stars from Banning and Carson.

All of which makes signing the most prominent high school coach in Southern California a coup for Harbor.

With typical ebullience Ferragamo said, “It is my plan to restore a little bit of the fire in Harbor’s program. . . . I want to rekindle the flame for students to come there. The players who don’t go to Division I schools have to have a place to go. But there hasn’t been one. A community needs to have a community college.

“I expect the kids from this area to stay here. I think my presence here will bring them to our school. . . . I really feel the community will be behind me. I know everybody here. I have never left here. Instead of having 500 people at games I would like to have 5,000. I want to fill the stadium by providing them with top-quality football.”

Ferragamo still needs to complete some courses to qualify as a community college teacher and will remain a teacher at Banning while taking classes at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Jim O’Brien, Harbor athletic director, said that because of “loopholes and technicalities,” Ferragamo cannot be called the head coach right now.