Palos Verdes Peninsula School Hands the Ball to Kimbrell : Football: Yet-to-be-named high school selects Rolling Hills coach to lead football team.

He’s been a Cougar, a Wave, a Marauder and a Titan.

Now Gary Kimbrell is a Panther.

Kimbrell, the Rolling Hills High football coach, has been named coach at the yet-to-be-named high school on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The school, tentatively called Peninsula High, will consolidate the student bodies of Rolling Hills, Palos Verdes and Miraleste on the Rolling Hills campus next fall.

Its nickname will be the Panthers and school colors are expected to be silver, black and white, a la the Raiders.

Selected to coach the other fall sports were Joe Kelly of Palos Verdes (cross-country), Tom Cox of Rolling Hills and Jim Hanson of Miraleste (girls’ tennis), and Jerry Lozano of Palos Verdes (water polo). The school is still looking for a varsity girls’ volleyball coach.

The announcement of football coach came as a thrill and a relief for Kimbrell, who was chosen over another experienced, respected coach, Bill Judy of Palos Verdes. A four-man panel of Principal Kelly Johnson, Assistant Principal Chris Bowles and co-athletic directors John Barr and Pete Fawaz interviewed the coaches Monday.

“There was a lot of anxiety leading up to this moment,” Kimbrell said. “If I didn’t get it, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Was I going to go to a travel agent and start making vacation plans?”

Kimbrell, who said he has been involved in football every year since 1954--when he was an all-league halfback for the Hawthorne High Cougars--can’t afford to take any trips now. He has plenty of work right here at home.

He must help select a coaching staff, one that he hopes will employ four varsity assistants and six coaches on the underclass levels. And he needs to familiarize himself with the football players at Palos Verdes and Miraleste.

“Prior to spring practice, I’ll be traveling around a little bit,” Kimbrell said. “I’m going to go to the other schools at lunchtime and introduce myself. It’s important that they get to know me and what is expected.”

Although many expect Peninsula High to produce super teams because of its increased enrollment (approximately 3,000), Kimbrell is approaching the new job with his usual caution.

“It’s not going to be an easy situation,” he said. “There are going to be some rough times.”

After playing football for Hawthorne and the Pepperdine Waves, Kimbrell was an assistant coach for 10 years under Dwaine Lyon at Rolling Hills before taking his first head coaching job at Miraleste. He coached the Marauders for 10 seasons (1977-86), gaining a reputation for getting the most out of minimal talent, before returning to Rolling Hills as head coach in 1988.

Rolling Hills returned to respectability under Kimbrell, who guided the Titans to three competitive seasons and a CIF playoff berth last fall.

Judy, who coached Palos Verdes to four Bay League titles and five playoff appearances in eight seasons, was understandably disappointed not to get the football job.

“I’m very let down,” Judy said. “I’ve put in a lot of time, energy and interest into coaching in the last eight years. It’s a definite void there all of a sudden. It leaves me with an empty feeling.

“But there’s not much you can do about it. Those things happen to you in your life.”

Judy, who guided Palos Verdes to the CIF Division VIII championship game last fall, said he is interested in becoming a varsity head coach at another school and has asked two districts outside the area to send him applications.

“It’s a dead end here because someone else has the head job,” Judy said. “All that would be available are assistant or lower-level jobs.”

Kimbrell said he talked to Judy a few weeks ago about the possibility of becoming co-coaches, but neither coach believed that type of an arrangement would work.

“We talked about the whole co-coaching thing,” Kimbrell said. “It just wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t the best thing for the program or the kids. When you try to bring people together, you can have a possible division. We just agreed to go along with whatever the decision that was made.

“I’m going to talk to all the coaches. I know there are some good people at Miraleste and Palos Verdes. I’m just going to try and put the best staff together that I possibly can. I’m going to wait until next week to talk to the PV guys. I know they’re not really feeling good right now.”

Kimbrell will compete against an old friend when Peninsula High joins the Bay League next season. Kimbrell and Tom Jessee, the new coach at Leuzinger, were boyhood pals growing up in Hawthorne.

“We were good friends in seventh and eighth grade,” Kimbrell said. “We used to talk about coaching football.”

The peninsula’s new high school will be officially named Monday night by the school board, which will choose among nine suggestions made by students during a vote taken last week.

The candidates: Palos Verdes Peninsula, Peninsula, Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Central, Pacific Coast, Miraverde, Central, Bay View and Bay Side.

Students eligible for high school next year were allowed to select the school’s mascot and colors. Activities Director Jim Kinney said Panthers was the “overwhelming” choice over such other nicknames as Broncos, Buccaneers, Centaurs, Chargers, Conquistadores, Patriots, Phoenix, Pioneers, Pirates, Scorpions, Tigers, Wildcats and Wolverines.

Mira Costa center Chris Davis performed well in Friday’s South Bay All-Star Basketball Classic at South Torrance High, earning the game’s most-valuable-player award.

For my money, though, the most impressive players were Gardena forward Robin Kirksey and St. Bernard center Wyking Jones. Both are quick, agile athletes who have “Division I” written all over them. The 6-foot-7 Jones is expected to sign with Loyola Marymount, and the 6-6 Kirksey reportedly has recruiting trips planned to Nevada Las Vegas and Loyola.

Prior to the all-star game, players participated in a three-point shooting contest and an informal dunking exhibition. Sean Roberts of North Torrance made all three of his three-point attempts, and Chris Hansen of El Segundo and Kris Radcliffe of Torrance were each two of three.

Players who distinguished themselves in the dunking exhibition were Narbonne forward D’Mitri Rideout, who appeared to have the highest vertical leap; Torrance forward Joe Zaletel, Leuzinger center Frank Willis, St. Bernard forward Rick Famuyiwa and Kirksey.

Track notes

Bishop Montgomery junior Nicole Haynes placed fourth in the long jump with a mark of 18 feet, 10 3/4 inches at the National Scholastic Indoor Track and Field Championships at Syracuse University last weekend. Haynes, who started long jumping only last spring, took second at the Sunkist Invitational in January. . . . Torrance sophomore Kim Blankinship set a school record and a 1991 Southern California best with a high jump of 5-7 in a meet against Morningside last Thursday. Saturday, she placed second with a mark of 5-4 at the Eagle Rock Relays.

Notes

Applications for winter sports coaches at Peninsula High are being accepted through Friday. . . . Morningside center Janet Davis was one of four players from California named to Parade magazine’s All-America girls’ basketball team. Davis, a 6-4 junior, made the second team along with 5-11 Charisse Sampson of Washington High. Berkeley guard Tanda Rucker was a third-team choice and 5-9 Jacinda Sweet of North Hollywood was named to the fourth team. Davis and Rucker will meet at 4:45 p.m. Saturday, when Morningside plays Berkeley for the State Division I title at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. . . . A dinner for retiring Carson football Coach Gene Vollnogle will be held April 19 at the Carson Community Center. Tickets are $30 and seating is limited. Information: Saul Pacheco at (213) 835-0181, ext. 261.