Engilman to Coach Football at Sylmar

Two years after he was fired as the head football coach at Grant High because of a controversial coaching technique, Jeff Engilman has been given another chance.

Engilman will assume the head coaching position at Sylmar in September after a teaching transfer is facilitated through the Los Angeles Unified School District, according to a Sylmar official. Engilman is currently teaching at Manual Arts, where as a co-coach he helped lead the Toilers to City Section 3-A championships in 1983 and 1984.

Engilman, 36, was named the head coach at Grant in 1985, but was fired before the season began following an incident where he was accused of drawing female genitalia on tackling dummies used during spring workout drills. A teacher who witnessed the incident described the tackling drill as “simulating a rape.”

Last season, while still teaching at Manual Arts, Engilman served as an assistant coach at Cleveland.

This time around, Engilman says things will be different.

“I’ve mellowed a bit over the last couple of years,” Engilman said. “I still want to win and have a strong program, but this time, I’ll do it right.”

Engilman’s record at Manual Arts, where he coached from 1979 to 1984, was 41-20-1. Sylmar finished 5-4 last season under Tom Richards, who announced his retirement Feb. 18. Richards, 51, compiled a 31-40-6 record at the school over eight seasons.

“I think Sylmar just got the best coach in the whole City Section,” said Cleveland Coach Steve Landress, who previously served with Engilman as a co-coach at Manual Arts. “He’s a great talent.”

“We were very impressed and didn’t hear one negative thing about him,” Sylmar Principal Ernest Scarcelli said. “The Grant incident was given some consideration, but we feel he handled it like a man and admitted he made a mistake. If he could put it all behind him, so could we.”