Raising the Standard : Bowman Quickly Leads Saugus to Respectability and Beyond

Who could have known that the Saugus High football program, down and out for so long, was, in fact, a slumbering giant in need of a wake-up call?

In only a year and a half, the Santa Clarita Valley, once the exclusive domain of two Southern Section football powers, has become home to three .

And who would have guessed that this rapid transformation would be engineered by a student of history who has persuaded his players to forget about the past?

Saugus is in the midst of creating a new tradition, built as much on back-slapping encouragement, back-yard barbecues and team night at the movies as it is on Friday-night victories.

Unexpected but true.

Welcome to “The Amazing Saugus Turnaround,” a fun-filled, confidence-building journey orchestrated by second-year Coach Jack Bowman, an optimist’s optimist who exudes enthusiasm in his every motion. The trip has helped make Saugus the second-ranked team--maybe you were expecting Canyon?--in The Times’ regional poll entering tonight’s showdown with No. 1 Hart in a Foothill League opener at College of the Canyons.

“I’d be lying if I said, ‘Yes, I expected a major change in our won-loss record immediately when we hired Jack’ ,” said Randy Parker, in his 12th year as Saugus athletic director. “I did expect a change in the enthusiasm and tone of the program, but nothing like we’ve had happen on the field.

“It really is kind of amazing that we’ve had so much success so quickly, but Jack has that unique ability to make kids believe they can do anything. That’s really what we needed.”

“Need” had become synonymous with football at Saugus--as in dire need of help. Mostly successful in its other sports programs, Saugus had been a flop in football.

Saugus fielded its first team in 1976, one year after the school opened, and through 1990 compiled a record of 48-94-5.

The Centurions had two winless seasons (1983, ‘86), three single-victory seasons (1979, ’85 and ‘88), and in each of the 1977 and 1990 seasons they won only twice.

Perhaps most galling, Saugus suffered most closest to home. From 1982 through ‘90, the Centurions were unable to defeat either Santa Clarita Valley rival, Canyon or Hart, losing 18 games.

Enter Bowman.

The portly, bespectacled, self-described “big-time history nut” did not come riding in on a white horse but rather on a wave of excitement about what lay ahead.

“I didn’t concern myself with what went on in the past,” Bowman said. “Obviously, I knew one of the biggest things we had to do was convince the kids that they could win, that they could play. We couldn’t do that by living in the past.”

Last season’s 6-5 record was the Centurions’ first winning campaign since 1984 (also 6-5). Saugus’ 3-2 record in the Golden League was its best league finish since 1981 (5-1).

Among the six victories was a 40-21 triumph over Hart. Saugus could have swept its cross-town rivals had not a late field-goal attempt failed in a 16-14 loss to Canyon.

Saugus’ season ended with a 34-24 opening-round playoff loss to perennial power Loyola, but neither the players nor the coaches were dismayed.

And Bowman’s efforts did not go ignored outside Saugus’ inner circle: He was selected The Times’ Valley coach of the year.

Bowman’s second season looks even more promising. Saugus is undefeated (4-0-1), and the students and faculty are reveling in anticipation of what the team will do next.

Upon being hired, Bowman immediately displayed his exuberant style by introducing himself to every member of the faculty. He has been such a hit that he inspired a campus-wide fashion trend among faculty and students: On game day, seemingly everyone wears a Saugus shirt adorned with the school colors of blue and silver. Such pride in the football team was almost unheard of before his arrival.

“Jack was so enthusiastic in the way he did it,” Parker said, “he just set such a great tone.”

Nowhere is the sense of renewed pride more evident than among the football players. Junior defensive tackle Matt Speranza is among the beneficiaries.

“We used to get laughed at by guys at (Canyon and Hart),” Speranza said. “They had no reason to respect Saugus because we never gave anyone a reason to by losing all those years. Coach came in and made things fun for us by joking around with us during drills, patting us on the back and not getting mad and screaming all of the time.

“He does get mad at times, but it’s always constructive criticism. That helped to make us believe we could play.”

Shaping the attitudes of young people is the part of the job that Bowman, a U.S. history teacher, relishes most. Bowman’s desire to work with youths began while he was completing a degree in history at UC Riverside.

He was a so-so lineman--yes, UC Riverside once had a football team--who knew that his future was not in NFL arenas but in high school classrooms.

He nurtured his desire to teach during stints as a co-coach at Westminster, his alma mater, and as an assistant at Marina.

“Jack believes in kids and he is one of the best motivators I’ve ever met,” said Bill Boswell, Bowman’s high school coach and longtime friend. “He gets the most out of people because he treats them as if they are first-rate. If you treat people as first-rate, they will be first-rate even if they don’t have the most talent. That’s how you teach kids.”

Mike Allmandinger, who brought in Bowman as the fourth football coach in Saugus’ history, calls the hire one of the best of his career. Allmandinger, formerly the principal at Saugus, now holds the same post at Canyon.

“He’s the exact type I was looking for and exactly what the school needed,” Allmandinger said. “My expectations had nothing to do with winning and losing, the winning is just kind of a pleasant sidebar. I wanted someone who would work effectively with young people, who could make them believe they are quality people.

“Jack is one of the most positive and upbeat people you will ever meet. I hired a teacher and got an excellent football coach.”

The Centurions enjoy the time spent on the field--but they prefer taking over their coach’s house. He is more than happy to oblige.

Bowman will even don a chef’s hat and apron for his squad.

He slaves over flaming briquettes when he and his wife, Christine, also a teacher at Saugus, welcome the 50-member football team to their home for cookouts. Other times, Bowman will find himself surrounded in his living room by players who have commandeered his television and VCR to view the latest movie available on home video.

In addition, a couple of times during the season, the Bowmans take in a movie--with 50 players in tow. Consider the logistics of a popcorn run with that bunch.

“We do that kind of stuff because, corny as it sounds, I think this game goes way beyond just being a game,” Bowman said. “I am an absolute believer that you do build character and you do make kids better people (through football). That’s the type of atmosphere we try to build around here. We want the kids to understand that we care more about them than just as football players.”

Wanting to give the team a voice with the coaching staff, Bowman instituted a “Senior Leader” program. The team votes for six seniors--this year’s group includes a junior--who have demonstrated leadership.

Senior Leaders speak to the coaching staff on the team’s behalf and are counted on to set positive examples for everyone in the football program.

A study-hall program in which teammates tutor one another also was established by Bowman. Twenty-three players posted grade-point averages of 3.0 or better during the spring, 1991, semester.

“All of the stuff Coach did made us feel like we are a family,” said standout center Shawn Stuart, a Senior Leader regarded as one of the top recruits in the Southland. “Everybody was sick of losing, but no one knew how to have a winning attitude. Coach helped us get a winning attitude by being real personal with us and always being positive. Now we’re getting a name and we feel we can be a power around here also.”

Any talk of power in the Santa Clarita Valley used to start and end with Canyon and Hart. Canyon’s Harry Welch and Hart’s Mike Herrington are among the coaches Bowman respects most.

“You wouldn’t believe how many times when I first came here everybody kept saying, ‘Well, you know, Coach, Hart and Canyon do this. . . .’ ” Bowman said. “Mike and Harry have done great things with those programs, but I couldn’t be concerned with that because I’m not at Hart or Canyon, I’m at Saugus.

“From then on the philosophy was, ‘Let’s just worry about Saugus, let’s not worry about anybody else.’ ”

The result is that Hart, Canyon and every other team on the Centurions’ schedule now must worry about Saugus.