Poly Football Hit by Shortage of Coaches

Poly High’s sagging football fortunes hit bottom this week when Coach Kevin Kennedy resigned to become an assistant at L. A. Southwest College, leaving the East Valley League school with no football coaches in the varsity and junior varsity programs.

Kennedy, who will teach social studies at Southwest to high school students who have troubled academic backgrounds, coached with a skeleton staff for three seasons at Poly and faced the prospect of starting the upcoming season with no assistants. He planned to start conditioning drills next week, but with no assistant on staff and the school’s B-team coach, Hector Colon, on vacation in Hawaii, it is uncertain when practice will begin.

Poly Athletic Director George Tidebeck lamented the timing of Kennedy’s decision but was not surprised.

“It is an advancement and you can’t blame someone for advancing, but this leaves us hanging,” Tidebeck said. “We have to get a guy as soon as possible, but our administrators are on vacation until Tuesday.”

Tidebeck said that he intends to contact Fred Cuccia, who formerly coached at Hoover and South Pasadena, about the vacancy. Tidebeck also vowed to hire an on-campus assistant but acknowledged that the search will present problems.

“There aren’t the coaches out there like there used to be,” he said. “We’re trying to get a full-time assistant but he has to be a person who is a qualified teacher. We have no openings in the P. E. department and a good majority of our P. E. teachers no longer coach. But we’re very much dedicated to having a top football program.”

Kennedy, 40, questioned the school’s commitment to the sport.

“The administration must make a commitment to get a bona fide coaching staff,” he said. “I didn’t think athletics was a significant (item on) the school agenda. You have to motivate the administration and I wasn’t forceful enough.”

City Section rules allow for two paid varsity positions and one for the junior varsity. Kennedy’s first two assistants, Don Lamarre (1986) and Jay Werner (1987) had no previous experience as high school football coaches. Lamarre left after the 1986 season and Werner became Poly boys’ basketball coach after the 1987 season. Poly did not hire a junior varsity coach during Kennedy’s tenure.

Poly was 7-21 under Kennedy, who claims that the school has the talent to win.

“They need a unifying force at school. They need the kind of identity football can bring. There are some kids at Poly that can be competitive. The talent is there to win. I didn’t accomplish what I wanted. You want to go out a winner, so I have this unfinished feeling,” he said.