Fogarty’s Program Runs by the Books : USD: Football coach disdains the limelight, stresses academics, cares about his players and builds winners.

Brian Fogarty is not a limelight guy; never has been, never will be.

He grew up ninth in a family of 10 in Altadena. He was a small offensive guard for a private high school and a junior college.

And today, he is the winningest football coach in the history of a school where winning isn’t everything.

This is the life of Brian, which will never be made into a movie, but perhaps should be.

It would be rated G--and probably flop at the box office--but it might also become recommended viewing for persons wanting to get into coaching and those striving for a wholesome life.

Eight years ago, at the age of 32, Brian Fogarty became the head coach at the University of San Diego, an NCAA Division III independent in football that awards no scholarships and receives little national attention. He never envisioned himself in the role, but it suits him perfectly.

He’s had some good years--7-2 in 1989--and some bad ones--1-8-1 in 1984. His overall record is 37-34-2. This year’s team takes a 4-1 record into today’s homecoming game at 1:30 p.m. against UC Santa Barbara.

More important to him and to the university, though, are the people who play at USD. Since he has been here, 95% of his players have graduated, and many of the ones who did not left because of the high cost of the school.

“Our goal is to bring the type of young man into the school that is going to help us, obviously, as a football player but also reflect what the school is all about,” Fogarty said. “If you were to ask the administration, I think they’ve been happy with the young men we’re bringing into the school.

“I think, within the parameters that we have academically and financially, we’ve done a pretty good job recruiting. I say we, because there’s a lot of other people involved, Kevin (McGarry) especially, and a lot of other guys that have come and gone over the years.”

McGarry is USD’s defensive coordinator. He has been coaching at USD for 13 years and reflected on his first impressions of Fogarty: “My first impression of him was that he was a pretty straight-laced guy. I thought he was going to be a real discipline-type coach. He didn’t come in and try to get everybody to shave their heads or anything, but I think we expected a more regimented program.”

McGarry added, “He’s a good man. He’s got a strong conviction both in football and church. We’ve belonged to the same church for a number of years. My friend was a basketball coach at St. Francis (the high school at which Fogarty coached for 13 years before coming to USD), and he told me, ‘He’s a good person. I don’t know how good he is as a football coach, but I know he’s a good person.’ ”

“He keeps in touch with the players,” senior tight end Mike Hintze said. “He makes sure things are going well at home and at school. He really cares, and I think that’s neat. He stresses academics first. You won’t find many coaches like that around.”

Said senior quarterback Brendan Murphy, “He makes it fun to play football. He’s demanding, but in a good way. He’s not the type you’re going to rebel against even when things are not going so well. He never has a different personality. I’ve never seen him come to the field in a bad mood.”

Fogarty, a conservative man in nearly all aspects of life, carries that over to the football field.

The strengths of his teams have always been defense and ball-control offense.

“I’ve loosened up a lot since my early days,” Fogarty said. “But I still think, if I can beat a team on the ground, I’ll do that. I’m concerned about winning the game, not whether someone felt I was being too conservative.”

That philosophy he said, has hurt him in ratings polls and probably in some recruiting instances, because USD rarely wins big, and it doesn’t pile up huge statistics.

Jack Friedman, Fogarty’s mentor at St. Francis, was the same way.

“We always had the reputation of being a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense, and I guess that’s where I got that from,” Fogarty said.

“I remember my brother was playing for him one game, and they were annihilating some team. He told those guys if anyone makes a run over 10 yards, they better fall down. I guess I got that from him, too. I just don’t see the point of it. I mean, you can boost the confidence of your own team, but I just don’t see doing that to the other kids.

“(Friedman) was a very hard-nosed disciplinarian type. And although I’m not the same type of coach he is, a lot of my philosophies come from him. Dealing with players and dealing with coaches more than anything else. He used to challenge me a lot as a coach, to the point where I wanted to quit on him several times. But I stuck to it. It definitely made me a better football coach. I realize it now, that he was trying to make me work harder.”

McGarry feels the same way about Fogarty at times.

“I don’t think he’s intentionally intimidating, but he’s got a loud voice. And when he makes a point about something, it gets even louder,” McGarry said. “He will challenge you. He wants to know what I’m doing. I don’t have carte blanche (with the defense), but then again I do.”

McGarry recalled that in 1986, USD had what he believed was a pretty good defensive year: “Then he comes in after the season and says, ‘This is the year we’re switching. I want an aggressive, attacking-style defense.’ I remember I was really upset, because we had had such a good year. I was upset, but I was really out to show him, more than anybody else, that we could get it done.”

In 1987, USD had perhaps its best defense, finishing 10th in the nation statistically, and it has been known as a defensive power since. This year, USD is limiting opponents to 12.4 points per game, and only 17 points have been scored on the Toreros in the second half.

Offensively, USD is averaging just less than 20 points per game, but it has been slowed somewhat by injuries and Fogarty’s conservative nature. The Toreros will have to control the ball better if they expect to beat UC Santa Barbara, a Division II school that Fogarty once attended.

After graduating from St. Francis, Fogarty played two years at Pasadena City College, where Al Luginbill, now the San Diego State coach, was a defensive coach. Fogarty, who is 6-feet and down a few pounds from his playing weight of 210, was an offensive guard. He earned a scholarship to UCSB but never actually played for them. In spring practice that year, he suffered what would be the last of several head injuries.

“It scared me because I was kind of in a daze for about a week,” Fogarty said. “It took a while to get over it--usually, you just snap out of it--so I didn’t argue when they told me I shouldn’t be playing. I loved football, but I just didn’t think it was worth it.”

Fogarty was born in 1950. Ray and Lorene Fogarty brought him home from the hospital and tried to find room for what would eventually become the biggest of 10 children. They lived in a three-bedroom, one-bath house in Altadena. “It worked out fine,” Ray, 80, said. “They all had beds, some of them bunk beds, and we all took turns in the bathroom.”

For the most part, Brian minded his Ps and Qs, and he didn’t get cheated out of having a wonderfully adventurous childhood.

“We weren’t too tough on them with right and wrong. We didn’t have to be,” Ray said. “Just don’t let us catch you doing the wrong. They were good kids, all of them. I think they enjoyed themselves.”

After his playing days, Fogarty moved on to Cal State Los Angeles, where he received his degree in physical education with a minor in history. He then returned to St. Francis to begin his coaching career.

“I can’t remember when I didn’t want to coach,” Fogarty said.

During that time at St. Francis, he met Vicki. They have been married 16 years and have four children.

The day will come undoubtedly when Fogarty will no longer be the Toreros’ coach. Perhaps he will accept a better offer somewhere else, take a different position within the administration or maybe in 20 years or so, he will just retire. But it is hard to imagine Fogarty not being USD’s football coach. The job is perfect for him, and he is perfect for the job.

USD is a quaint, Catholic university, proud of its reputation for academics. It will not permit any one entity, particularly a football program, to become bigger than the school. Winning football games isn’t everything at USD, but being a winner is.

And Brian Fogarty wouldn’t have it any other way. He is not one for the limelight, anyway.