An Alarming Mystery at Canyon: Has Time Run Out for Coefield?

The finest talent Harry Welch has ever coached is sleeping away a Sunday morning. Maybe Todd Coefield is dreaming of scoring touchdowns for Canyon High. Maybe not.

“My husband and I are going to church, but Todd just sleeps on through,” said Jacqueline DeRuso, Todd’s mother.

Like an alarm clock, Welch can be loud and obnoxious enough to roust the most brazen or burly athlete. But he can’t wake up Todd Coefield.

“Here is a kid with tremendous talent who refuses to take responsibility for his actions,” Welch lamented.

A 6-2, 205-pound junior running back, Coefield has attended Canyon since moving to Canyon Country from San Pedro in April to live with his mother. He played at Banning the past two seasons while living with his father but had only 168 yards and 4 touchdowns on 29 carries last year. Coefield was held out of four games because his attendance at practice was sporadic.

The first time Coefield, 18, showed up for football class at Canyon, it was obvious his talent was in a class by itself. But since that day, the relationship between Welch and Coefield has deteriorated from wonderful to woeful.

“It’s history,” Welch said.

Coefield missed several spring practices and his grades are low, making his eligibility questionable even if he and Welch patch up their differences.

Chris Ferragamo, who coached Coefield at Banning, agrees that the player has loads of ability--and loads of problems. “He’s mixed up,” Ferragamo said.

Yet Ferragamo compares his talent to that of Freeman McNeil, who played at Banning in the mid--1970s.

“He runs like Freeman McNeil and, on the field, has the same attitude,” Ferragamo said. “I can tell you he has tremendous potential.”

Welch has not coached an NFL-bound running backs, so he just likens Coefield to the best high school back around.

“I’ve never coached someone with his physical attributes,” Welch said. “Put him behind our line and he’d have stats like Russell White.”

White rushed for 2,354 yards and 31 touchdowns as a sophomore for Crespi last season. But White gets decent grades and attends practice regularly. Coefield does neither, according to Welch, who told the player he was no longer welcome after the first week of spring practice.

“He’s off the team,” Welch said. “The past six weeks I’ve made more than 100 calls to police officers, deans, counselors, teachers, boosters and college scouts. I’ve tried and tried to help him. And he’s not stupid.”

Welch, no dummy either, then hedged on Coefield’s status.

“The door is still open,” Welch said Thursday. “If Todd came out Monday, lifted weights and worked as hard as the other young men, he is welcome.”

Coefield seems sincerely upset at the rift between him and Welch.

“I’ll probably have to go back to Banning, but I’d rather stay at Canyon,” he said. “I’ll make the first move, call Coach Welch and meet somewhere away from school. His house or mine, I don’t care. We need to start over and put what’s happened behind us.”

As for the poor grades, he claims everything will work out, an attitude Welch says Coefield frequently adopts in times of trouble.

“I’ll be taking two classes in summer school to be eligible,” Coefield said. “I’ve got to make up one class and I’m taking another to get ahead. It’s no problem.”

Said an exasperated Welch: “Todd always says, ‘Hey, things will work out.’ He’s not being realistic. Maybe things will work out. And maybe Bo Derek is waiting for me in the lunch room right now.”

Students in the Hart Union School District, of which Canyon is a member, can make up as many as three low grades in summer school. A student whose spring grade-point average is below 2.0 after summer school is ineligible the first five weeks of the fall, at which time he can be reinstated if his grade-point average is 2.0. In the Hart district, one F does not automatically make a student ineligible.

Coefield, who bears a resemblance to Tony Dorsett, has made the grade socially at Canyon. He is charismatic and has made lots of friends at his new school.

Said Chris Peery, who besides Coefield is the only black player at Canyon: “He gets along with everybody. Me and him are real good friends. He’s just not used to working hard. The coaches were sort of letting him ease into it.”

Obviously, the transition period lasted too long for Welch’s tastes. But neither he nor Ferragamo became two of the state’s most successful high school football coaches by lacking tolerance.

Ferragamo didn’t guide Banning to eight of the past 11 City Section titles by giving up quickly on talented kids with problems. “Part of being a great coach is being a great counselor,” said Ferragamo, who resigned from Banning after last season and is coaching at L.A. Harbor College.

Yet it required the faith of Father Flanagan for Ferragamo to withstand Coefield’s tardiness and absences.

“Todd eventually will be a good player if somebody can work with him,” Ferragamo said. “You have to make sure he goes to practice. He’s got to be more . . . well, let’s say he has to concentrate on football.”

And Welch didn’t direct Canyon to 46 straight wins and three Southern Section championships in the past four years by denying players a second chance. Although he imposes a rigid set of rules, Welch can bend. Remember running back Lance Cross? After rushing for 2,440 yards in 1984 and ‘85, he quit before his senior year because of problems off the field. When Cross changed his mind, Welch accepted him with open arms.

“Lance is a beautiful, quality young man who went through a lot,” Welch said. “The only thing he has in common with Todd Coefield is that they both carry the football.”

The chances seem slim that Coefield will carry the football for Canyon. Welch likes to call his demanding program Cowboy Football. Coefield Football is not an acceptable hybrid.

“I believe in holding people accountable for their actions,” Welch said. “Todd has to learn that some people will do what they say they will do. The same standards have to exist for every player.”

Most players at Canyon believe in Welch’s standards because they’ve seen the results. The more realistic Cowboys know, however, that the graduation of quarterback Ken Sollom, Cross and fellow running back Paul Chadwell, and receivers Chad Zeigler and Trevor Doyle has left the team lacking at the skill positions.

Coefield would make a huge difference.

“He’s a pure tailback,” said Kevin Doss, a Canyon linebacker and team captain. “He’s big, strong and quick.”

But they also have noticed his questionable work habits.

“Todd likes to kick back a little,” Peery said. “I guess at Banning you don’t have to work hard.”

Coefield understands why the other Canyon players work hard. As for a reason why the same standard might not apply to him . . .

“I thought the guys here would be bigger and more talented,” Coefield said. “Coach Welch told me, ‘If we had the talent Banning has, we wouldn’t have to work as hard.’ Hey, this is a running back, 6-2, 205, who does a legit 4.65 in the 40.”

He was talking about himself, of course. One moment Coefield concludes that by not pushing himself, he doesn’t mind playing on the same field as those small, slow guys. The next moment, he insists that working hard is in his plans. Either way, if they won’t let him suit up, well, he’ll just return to Banning.

“Whatever happens, happens,” he said. “I’m gonna play football somewhere. I miss Banning. I got a lot of recognition there.”

First-year Banning Coach John Hazelton isn’t sure he wants Coefield. It seems the running back gave Hazelton the runaround in February and March.

“Todd made zero attempt to fit into the off-season conditioning program,” Hazelton said. “I set up meetings with Todd and his father on three successive Thursdays. They never showed up once.

“Why he is self-destructing a great career is a mystery. The kid is a stallion. He has agility and moves you wouldn’t believe.”

Moving away from San Pedro was Coefield’s best move to date, Ferragamo believes.

“Canyon is the best environment for Todd,” he said. “At Banning, he wanted to be like the big guys. He didn’t want to be himself.

“Todd needs someone who will put their hand on his back and work with him.”

Ferragamo, for one, wouldn’t turn his back on Coefield.

“When Harry Welch is done with Todd Coefield,” Ferragamo said, “there’s a spot open in the backfield at Harbor College.”

Because he is 18, Coefield could attend Harbor next season even though he hasn’t graduated from high school. But he has loftier goals in mind.

“I’m going Division 1-A, most definitely,” Coefield said. “I’m finishing high school first. I wouldn’t be taking summer school classes if I didn’t care.”

A major college is out of the question unless Coefield plays football in the fall. And he is down to his last chance.

Said Welch: “The best thing for Todd would be if he’d bust ass all summer, live with being ineligible the first five weeks, then play. The exposure he’d get in the playoffs is all he’d need. He’d dispel the rumors about his personal life and he’d feel good about his own worth. Can you imagine what a lift that would be in his life?”

The talented, troubled back sounds convincing when he insists he won’t blow it this time.

“I can work hard,” he said. “I can fit in. Once I get out to practice, I’m fine.

“It’s just getting out there that’s tough. You know, it’s a lot like getting out of bed in the morning.”