Athletic Director to Head Team : Bishop Montgomery Grid Coach Quits

Bishop Montgomery High School on Thursday announced the resignation of football Coach Andy Szabatura and is expected to name Athletic Director Steve Carroll as his successor.

Carroll, defensive coordinator last season, would not confirm the report, but sources said that Carroll is earmarked for the head coaching job. Brother Tom Fahey, the principal, hopes to make an announcement by Monday.

A former graduate assistant at the University of Nevada-Reno, Carroll is known as a hard worker with intense desire to succeed. He coached Bishop Montgomery’s basketball team last season in his first year at the school and became athletic director last fall.

“I think he’ll do a fine job,” said a source close to the football team. “He’s obsessed with putting a winning program together.”

Szabatura coached Bishop Montgomery for five seasons, taking over after the Knights had won the Camino Real League title and reached the Southern Section Northwestern Conference final in 1983 under Coach Bill Norton.

Realigned into the tougher Angelus League in 1984, Bishop Montgomery has not returned to the playoffs since its title-game appearance. The Knights were 6-18 in league games and 21-29 overall under Szabatura.

“That was a frustrating thing for me,” Szabatura said. “I wanted to get to the playoffs. Leaving is a bittersweet thing. I always hate to make a move, but I feel good about the future.”

Last season was especially frustrating for Szabatura. The Knights posted a 5-1 record in non-league games, including wins over playoff qualifiers North and South Torrance, but were 0-4 in Angelus games against Servite, Mater Dei, St. Paul and Bishop Amat, four of the top teams in Southern California.

Szabatura said he has applied for the head coaching job at St. John Bosco High in Bellflower, where he was an assistant for three years before going to Bishop Montgomery. A resident of Garden Grove, Szabatura said the long drive to Torrance also played a part in his resignation.

He will continue teaching at Bishop Montgomery until the end of the school year.