Valley Hires Hazelton as an Assistant

Less than a week after he was told “thanks but no thanks” by Crespi High, John Hazelton has found employment with another local football program--that of Valley College.

Hazelton, 36, who was fired from the varsity position at Banning High in January, accepted an offer from Valley Coach Chuck Ferrero, for whom he worked in 1981-82.

Hazelton, who coached at Montclair Prep from 1982-85, will coach running backs and wide receivers or linebackers at Valley.

On Tuesday, Hazelton was told by Crespi Coach Bill Redell that his services as a running back coach--a position Hazelton sought and had accepted--were no longer needed. Redell, who verbally agreed to hire Hazelton but had not officially cleared the move through Crespi administrators, rescinded the offer when Hazelton went public with the job announcement.

“After the debacle with Redell, I made sure Chuck said it was OK to announce this,” Hazelton said.

Hazelton will be a paid assistant. He was not a member of the faculty at Banning and would have been a volunteer at Crespi.

“It worked out perfectly,” Ferrero said. “I had an opening and John knows exactly what I want.

“He’s a good on-field coach and I’m glad to have him back on board.”

The Valley position is Hazelton’s fourth since he left Valley. After his term at Montclair Prep, he coached as a volunteer for two seasons at USC before accepting the Banning position.