Mike Milner Finds a Fountain of Youth and Talent at El Toro : South Coast: After 19 years, football coach changes venue. He says he is up to challenge, pressures of his new job.

Mike Milner has gone south. After 19 years at Fountain Valley High School, including the past 12 as its head coach, Milner saw that the fountain had run dry and the valley, once green with promise, had become a wasteland. It was time for a change.

When Bob Johnson, Milner’s good friend, resigned at El Toro last season, it figured that Milner would bolt. It was a natural move for Milner, and a perfect opportunity for one of Orange County’s top coaches to make some new tracks.

From the start, Milner’s move to El Toro has rejuvenated him. He had been to the school many times to visit Johnson, but it didn’t take the excitement away from his first day on the job.

“After I accepted the job, I walked into the weight room and I was in shock,” Milner said. “It took my breath away. I thought I was in Family Fitness.”

If the facilities excited Milner, it was nothing compared to the droves of kids out for the football teams. The numbers on all levels are mind-boggling for Milner.

More than anything, a lack of players--good ones, bad ones, it didn’t matter--is killing the program at Fountain Valley and it was the No. 1 reason Milner left. It had been a slow death since the late 1970s, when Fountain Valley had the largest enrollment of any public high school west of the Mississippi River--about 4,600, according to Milner.

Consecutive appearances in the Division I championship game, including a title in 1988, only delayed the inevitable downturn. Declining enrollment had taken hold in Fountain Valley.

The talent dried up the next season as the Barons went 2-8 in 1989 and 1-9 in 1990. Only a fluke, in the form of eight forfeited victories by Huntington Beach allowed the Barons to return to the playoffs to defend their title in ’89. It wasn’t pleasant, though. Fountain Valley lost, 51-6, to eventual champion Fontana in the first round.

“I think we finished with 36 kids last year, including six sophomores on the varsity, which was unheard of,” Milner said. “We never played sophomores on the varsity at Fountain Valley. In ’87 and ’88 we were competing against the Fontanas, Rubidouxs and Bishop Amats with only 45 kids. They were suiting up 75-80 kids. I don’t know how we did it.”

When Milner surveyed the results of his 12 seasons at Fountain Valley, he wondered if any of it could be duplicated. He was 84-56-1 with six Sunset League championships, two Division I runner-up plaques and one Division I title.

“I couldn’t see myself at Fountain Valley for 10 more years,” Milner said. “It was a good move for me. This is an outstanding, competitive league in an area that continues to grow. It’s not a stagnant area. The kids have come and gone in Fountain Valley.”

Milner is so happy with the turnout at El Toro that he’s forgotten to be nervous taking over for Johnson, who brought the Chargers out of the cul-de-sacs and into the limelight. Johnson led El Toro to seven South Coast League titles and three division championships, including back-to-back Division III titles in 1986 and ’87.

Johnson also coached three of the county’s top quarterbacks in the past decade--his sons Bret Johnson (a possible starter for Michigan State) and Rob Johnson (a red-shirt freshman at USC), and Steve Stenstrom (a backup at Stanford).

It’s been a while, but Milner is familiar with the demands of a high-profile high school football program.

“I would probably feel pressure if I was a young coach who didn’t have playoff or championship experience; if I didn’t have experience with (college) recruiting and sending kids on,” Milner said. “At Fountain Valley, we sent 75 kids on to Division I scholarships. We had a good run. I’m used to big games, pressure.”

Indeed, in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, nothing was bigger than a Fountain Valley-Edison game. In 1980, the teams drew 18,516 to Anaheim Stadium for their Sunset League contest, then five weeks later battled for the Division I championship in front of 29,916 at the Big A.

“I would think an Edison-Fountain Valley game would compare to an El Toro-Mission Viejo game,” Milner said.

Or an El Toro-Capistrano Valley game. Or a Capistrano Valley-Mission Viejo game. The South Coast League is filled with intense rivalries.

In order to keep up, Milner has made as few changes as possible. Much of the coaching staff remains from Johnson’s tenure.

But Milner has altered the Chargers’ offense and defense. The offense will feature more passing underneath zone defenses and swing passes to running backs than in the past. El Toro’s defensive alignment has been switched from an eight-man front to a seven-man front.

“The kids were receptive,” Milner said. “They picked up the systems pretty quick in the spring. At this point they’re very comfortable with the systems.”

Milner also has become comfortable with his situation.

“I’m excited about the change,” he said. “I’m really impressed with the kids. I don’t know how good we’re going to be at this point. (But) I like the overall attitude.”