Math Teacher Learned to Coach Basketball at Corona del Mar

Here’s the joke: Fresh out of college in 1970, Paul Orris applied for a job as a math teacher at Corona del Mar High School. After being told there was also a freshman basketball coaching position available, he expressed an interest in that.

And the punch line? Orris had never coached basketball in his life. In fact, his only experience in the sport came from recreational leagues and four years of sitting on the bench at Long Beach Wilson.

“I wanted the math job, so I tried to make myself marketable in other areas,” Orris said. “Teaching has always been my first love. I knew absolutely nothing about coaching.”

He got the job, but no one is laughing these days--especially any one who has to play the Sea Kings.

Orris is one of the top math teachers at Corona del Mar and has also learned to coach, and learned to do it well.

He has been the school’s varsity basketball coach for the past five seasons, after 16 successful years on the freshman level. The Sea Kings have a varsity record of 90-57 under Orris. They have been to two Southern Section championship games and reached the semifinals once.

The secret to his success has been simple.

“I just kept my mouth shut, watched, listened and learned,” Orris said.

Orris began his coaching career under Tandy Gillis, who now is the head coach at Orange Coast College. He also worked for the late Jack Errion, who took over from Gillis after the 1976 season.

Gillis and Errion won Southern Section titles at Corona del Mar.

“I had two pretty good mentors,” Orris said. “The hardest part was learning to teach the intricacies of offense. The first two years, I watched what Tandy did and tried to copy it.”

Orris was a fast learner. After a rough initial season, he guided the Sea Kings to a league co-championship.

“We lost our first four games and then won 10 in a row,” Orris said. “After we won for the first time, one of the players told me that was the first time he had been on a winning team since he had started playing organized basketball.

“That team hadn’t won a game as eight-graders, but they listened and did what they were told.”

Over the years, Orris has developed a reputation as a stickler for defense. He said he stressed that because it was the easiest part of coaching.

“The first year Paul coached, he asked me what I wanted him to stress,” Gillis said. “I told him we wanted the kids to play man-to-man defense. He went right out and started them on it.”

Orris has often applied a hands-on approach to teaching defense. Sometimes that involved scrimmaging with the team.

“When he wanted us to be more physical, he would come out on the court and beat on us,” said Mark Spinn, who graduated from Corona del Mar in 1981. “It made us tough.”

Errion would sometimes borrow Orris for similar demonstrations with the varsity.

In 1981, the Sea Kings were preparing to play La Quinta in the 3-A semifinals. The Aztecs, who were led by Johnny Rogers, were the defending champions.

Errion had Orris guard Spinn during the three practices before the game.

“We would go over to the side and Orris would post up on me,” Spinn said. “He pounded me for three days. He pushed and elbowed and shoved. One day, he even chipped one of my front teeth. After that, playing against Rogers was a breeze. We won and I held Rogers to six points.”

Orris, who teaches geometry and algebra, applies many of his classroom techniques to his basketball team. He places high expectations on his players and they generally respond.

The Sea Kings won a Sea View League championship in 1987, Orris’ first year as varsity coach. They also reached the Southern Section 3-A championship game in 1988 and ’89.

“I don’t expect anything that they are not capable of doing,” Orris said. “Coaching is just another form of teaching.”