Rollinson New Mater Dei Football Coach : Former Monarch Running Back Named to Replace Chuck Gallo

Bruce Rollinson was named head football coach at Mater Dei High School, Father John Weling, the school’s principal, announced Wednesday.

Rollinson, an assistant coach at Rancho Santiago College the past 6 years, replaced Chuck Gallo, who was fired on Wednesday after 5 years as coach.

“This is a dream come true for me,” said Rollins, who graduated from Mater Dei in 1967. “I didn’t lobby for this job. I always felt if I ever had a chance to come back to Mater Dei, I would.”

Rollinson, 39, was an assistant coach at Mater Dei from 1976-82. He has been a history teacher at the school since 1976.

Weling said the decision to hire Rollinson was reached Tuesday by the school’s personnel board, which consists of Weling and the assistant principals. Weling said hiring Rollinson was in the “best interest of our student athletes and program.”

Rollinson, who was a running back and wide receiver at USC from 1967-70, said he hoped to restore tradition at Mater Dei.

“I want people to turn around and say, ‘Look out, here comes Mater Dei,’ ” Rollinson said. “I want to get everybody--the students, the administration, the parents--to be pulling in the same direction.”

He also said he wanted to “get Mater Dei back in the community.”

A higher profile in the community might become increasingly important to Mater Dei, one of three football-playing Catholic high schools in Orange County. The school has to compete for students, not only with Servite in Anaheim, but with Santa Margarita in Rancho Santa Margarita, which is in its second year of existence.

“Servite has had a strong football program for years, and Santa Margarita is coming on strong,” Rollinson said. “It is an extremely difficult challenge ahead for us. The parishes are still out there, the families are still out there and they all know Mater Dei.”

Rollinson was an All-Southern Section running back for Mater Dei from 1965-1966. He played on Mater Dei’s Southern Section Major Division championship team in 1965. That was the Monarchs’ last title.

“Coach Rollinson has history, love and loyalty to Mater Dei and our tradition deeply rooted in the past,” Weling said from a prepared statement. “This tie with the past will be a springboard for the future of the program.”

Rollinson received a degree in business administration from USC in 1971 and a master’s degree in education from Azusa Pacific in 1987.

Weling said the school has been discussing the possibility of a coaching change since the season ended. Mater Dei finished 6-6 overall, 2-2 in the Angelus League and lost to Loyola, 30-17, in the second round of the Division I playoffs. That brought Gallo’s career record to 32-24.

“It was a tough decision, but we felt that the kids and entire program would be better served by the change,” Weling said.

Gallo had eight assistant coaches, but their fate is still unknown. Rollinson said he will meet with the coaches individually in the next 2 weeks.

“The administration has told me I can do whatever I want to do,” Rollinson said. “Right now, I have no one in mind that I wish to bring in. I’ll have to wait until after I talk with each coach.”