Carson Faced Tough Odds From the Start

Circumstances may have doomed Dave Carson to failure at Hart High long before he was forced to resign after just one season as coach of one of the area’s most successful football programs.

Principal Laurence Strauss called for Carson’s resignation Thursday and then installed defensive coordinator Tim Azevedo as interim coach after meeting with the staff Friday.

Carson ran a successful program at Burbank for five years before enduring a disappointing first season in 1988 in which the Indians finished 6-5, failed to win the league title and lost in the first round of the Southern Section playoffs. But problems ran deeper than that. Strauss cited philosophical differences between himself and Carson, who claims the principal told him he must resign because he ran a negative program and used obscene language.

Strauss said Thursday that he reprimanded Carson last year for excessive use of profanity with players. At a meeting in April, according to Carson, Strauss directed him to create a more positive attitude and clean up his language. Carson claims he worked toward those goals, instituting a no-swearing policy on the team. He said that he was shocked by his dismissal.

“Strauss said I didn’t make any changes and was incapable of making changes,” Carson said. “I’m disappointed that I didn’t have ample opportunity to make those changes. That hurts. I may not be the right coach for Hart but I still know that I’m a good football coach and teacher.”

Although his Burbank players support that assertion, some at Hart remain unconvinced. They characterize him as an overzealous disciplinarian, a coach given to yelling fits who too often pointed out his players’ shortcomings while overlooking their successes. Quarterback Rob Westervelt, who passed for 2,130 yards and 21 touchdowns last season as a junior, said that he was relieved when he learned of Carson’s ouster.

“I’m sad for him but I’m glad he’s not there,” he said. “It’s the best thing for the program. It was evident very early that it wasn’t working out. There were too many negatives. Everyone was afraid to mess up because you’d get yelled at.”

Brian Allen, Hart’s All-Southern Section tight end who has signed with UCLA, echoed those sentiments. “I hate to say this but everyone disliked him,” Allen said. “We just didn’t play well for him. You have to teach kids, not just yell at them. There was always a lot of tension in the air.”

Some of that tension may have preceded Carson. He replaced the popular Rick Scott, an easygoing man with a folksy touch with his players. He frequently punctuated practices with jokes and made sure his players enjoyed themselves.

Scott also was a winner. In the four seasons before he resigned to coach Buena High in Ventura, he led Hart to four consecutive Foothill League titles and 20 consecutive league wins, including four over Burbank. He also coached the Indians to the Southern Section Northwestern Conference championship in 1986 and compiled a 41-9-2 record before moving to Ventura.

“They could have hired Don Shula or Vince Lombardi reincarnated and he would have a tough time following Rick Scott,” Canyon Coach Harry Welch said. “Carson is a very intelligent coach with a great football mind but is obviously more the disciplinarian than Scott.”

Players chafed under Carson’s rule but they had a gripe before he arrived. After Scott resigned, a group representing the players asked Strauss to hire popular assistant coach Mike Herrington and his brothers Rick and Dean, but when Strauss chose Carson, he may have inadvertently stacked the deck against his new coach.

“The players wanted the Herringtons and people didn’t like Carson from the beginning,” said Brian LaMarre, last year’s starting defensive tackle and an assistant freshman coach this year. “After the first game, the players shut him off. They thought they could do it on their own. The players are spoiled. When they didn’t get their way, they’d go cry to their parents who would talk to Strauss. Sometimes as a person Coach Carson got on my nerves, but I thought he was a great coach.”

Carson didn’t help his cause when he directed a a racial slur at Howard Blackwell, a black running back, after he fumbled during a game last year against Schurr. Carson said he immediately apologized to Blackwell and later apologized to him in front of the team.

Carson says that he is free from racism and regrets hurting Blackwell. “I made a mistake and took appropriate action by saying I was sorry,” he said.

Burbank lineman John Cotti, who played for Carson as a junior and will play for Cal State Fullerton this fall, remembers a different man from the one portrayed by some Hart players.

“He was there for you if you needed him,” he said. “His players came first and he made us feel special. He had a lot of discipline and didn’t put up with crap from anyone, but that’s why we had a good team. I liked him a lot and I’d play for him again.”

Carson, 41, wants another chance to convince players he has those coaching skills. He sold his house in Pasadena and moved to Saugus when he took the Hart job. He has a contract to teach physical education there this school year but will look for other coaching jobs.

His faith in his coaching abilities remains unshaken and he regrets that he was denied more time to sell the Hart players on his program.

“I was a different personality than what they were used to and it was a difficult adjustment for them,” he said. “The Burbank kids bought my program, but the Hart kids never did.

“They may have looked down on me because Hart always beat us at Burbank. One kid asked me what was the most games I won in a season. I told him seven and these kids were used to winning 10, 11, 12 games a year. I don’t think I convinced the kids that I could lead them to a championship. I had to earn my rite of passage and I don’t think they ever accepted me.”

Azevedo, 32, joined Hart last year after five years as an assistant at St. Joseph High in Santa Maria, his alma mater. He also served as an assistant for three years at Eastern Oregon State College where he was as an offensive lineman.

Strauss said that Azevedo will run the program until the first week of August and that any future hire would also be on an interim basis. Next year, Strauss said, a permanent coach would be selected after interviews and a full-scale background check.

“The position will be interim, whether its someone from outside our staff or within our staff,” he said. “Because of the time element, there’s no way we can implement the normal selection process.”