Taft’s Gender Bender : Hetman Learns on Job as Female Head Football Coach of B Team

By now, the librarians probably know her by name, if not by reputation. Every fortnight, she checks back in to check her favorite book back out.

Donna Hetman carries the inch-thick illustrated paperback tome with her everywhere.

“I renew it every two weeks,” she said.

Advice to opposing coaches: Find out which library branch she frequents and request a book called “Play Football the NFL Way.” Then she’d finally have to surrender the darn thing.

Progressive thinkers would say that “Overdue” could be stamped across Hetman’s forehead. Hetman, you see, has crossed the line into sacrosanct male territory. Or, as one of her gushing Taft High students put it, has “made a new place for women in the work force.”

Whether any more women wish to enter this particular vocation, well, that’s open to speculation. Sometimes, Hetman isn’t quite sure she’s crazy about having her name associated with her fall occupation . . . football coach.

Hetman, coach of the Taft B team, is believed to be the only female high school head football coach in the state, according to Thomas Byrnes, commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation.

It’s a safe bet that Hetman, 29, also is the only person to make the transition from pep-squad leader to the football sidelines.

But then, Hetman is all about firsts, with the exception of her groundbreaking job assignment, which is to get Taft’s B team out of last place.

Anything in this book about beating down stereotypes or dealing with skittish 14-year-olds and Neanderthal coaches?

Hetman knew she was as green as they come, and that she was in for a rough ride. Perhaps it was cemented in her noggin the day one of her players asked her to confirm his suspicion that the defense was the group of 11 guys without the ball. He wasn’t sure. Had to ask.

“Yes,” she said. “Just like in baseball and basketball.”

Maybe she knew it was going to be a long haul when an opposing coach walked right past her, toward her two male assistants, during postgame handshakes.

“You’re the coach?” he said.

And then there is the team.

Taft’s beleaguered B squad hadn’t won a game in three years and scored only one touchdown last season, so there was considerable work to be done. Interest was high--about 70 hopefuls tried out for the team--and there are now 38 players.

“Got rid of the wimps,” Hetman said.

Almost got rid of that darn losing streak too. In Taft’s opener against Canoga Park, the Toreadors drove to the 13-yard line with under a minute left and the score tied, 12-12. Taft failed to score . . . and failed to attempt a field goal.

“Everybody was asking, ‘Donna, Donna, why didn’t you kick it?’ ” she said. “But we didn’t have anybody that could hold the ball. I was thrown into it so fast there were things we didn’t cover. There were things we saved until next week.”

Things haven’t gone as well in the weeks that followed. The Toreadors have lost five in a row to fall to 0-5-1 and have been shut out the past two weeks. On the positive side, Taft ended its three-year winless streak with the Canoga Park tie and has easily outscored the 1991 team.

The losses, though, are wearing on everybody.

“I take the losses personally,” she said. “I think our confidence is low right now.”

It was probably lower when Hetman took over during the summer. A winless team and a woman coach? Eyebrows headed north faster that Barry Sanders in the open field.

Antwan Simpson, a freshman and a two-way starter, said he has heard more than a few unsolicited comments about Hetman, most of them negative.

“(People) think it shows that the school system doesn’t care,” Simpson said. “They think she’s out there just because somebody has to be out there.”

Taft varsity Coach Troy Starr would disagree. He’d seen Hetman coaching the school softball team and knew she was an effective and effusive teacher. Yet, to be honest, he had few other candidates.

“I laughed in his face and told him that he’d be able to find somebody else,” Hetman said.

He didn’t, and was doggedly persistent. Starr said he was impressed with Hetman’s leadership qualities--she led the softball team to a 17-3 mark last spring--and told her that her proven ability to communicate was of paramount importance. Hetman can talk a blue streak.

“After (Starr) sweet-talked me about what it involved, I decided to do it,” Hetman said, laughing. “He was lying, big time.”

Starr will admit, however, that the burnout rate among coaches is high and that fewer teachers are willing to invest time in extracurricular activities. Most City Section schools prefer to have on-campus, credentialed teachers as coaches, which further cuts down on the eligibility pool.

“They’re faced with the problem at all the L.A. City schools,” Starr said. “There aren’t a lot of people who are qualified--or who want to do it.”

Hetman is no figurehead. Every practice, she is in the trenches, teaching blocking schemes and roughing out the rudiments. Her voice, shredded by bellowing at her players, sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard.

“Occupational hazard,” she said.

Alas, so are some other things. It seems that Hetman has picked up the most dreaded of coaching maladies, the cliche bug. In a recent interview, Hetman used the terms gotta give 100 percent, our backs are to the wall, can’t win without the horses and have to give ‘em credit, all within a 10-minute span. At least it proves that she’s listening and learning.

Simpson said Hetman picked up big points in his eyes by admitting that she is a football novice. Hetman figured it was best to be brutally honest from Day 1.

“If there’s something she doesn’t know, she’ll tell you and ask the other coaches,” Simpson said. “She doesn’t pretend.”

Said Hetman: “Believe me, there are some players who are ahead of me. I told them, ‘Hey, I’ll have to get back to you tomorrow, because I don’t know the answer to that.’ I’m not gonna lie to them if I don’t know.”

Not that Hetman hasn’t had a few cram sessions that would make any late-night, deadline-strapped frat rat proud. She has sought the opinion and expertise of many, and freely admits that she is still learning the game’s nuances.

Few sources have been left untapped. She routinely has asked Tom Stevenson and Howard Reisbord--teachers at Taft and former high school coaches--for advice.

“Books, videos, other coaches,” said Hetman, a 1979 Taft graduate. “I make up a lesson plan every night.”

Hetman credits walk-on assistants Rod Gatlin and Adam McKinney, both of whom played at Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton, with familiarizing her with the game. The pair have experience as players but not as coaches.

Consequently, it has been a perfect marriage, though Gatlin admits he had a few doubts.

“Her being female didn’t cross my mind other than her lack of knowledge about the game,” said Gatlin, 25. “But she definitely knows how to teach, and Adam and I can help her out with the background stuff.”

Hetman has no credentialed assistants, though it didn’t start out that way. Hetman and Ed Gunny began the season as co-coaches, but Gunny left after two games. Gunny said there was “no friction” between the two, and Hetman declined to discuss their parting, other than to say, “It just didn’t work out.”

It didn’t work out for players who decided to test Hetman’s mettle, either. Gatlin calls Hetman “a real disciplinarian,” and it’s easy to see why.

Hetman says she has booted a half-dozen players off the team for various reasons, including insubordination. Hetman the Hitman is not afraid to drop the hammer.

“She’s a fun person to be around and she’s nice in her ways,” Simpson said. “Get on her wrong side, though, and she brings it down on you.”

Said Hetman: “If I don’t get their respect, they can get the hell out of here. I don’t have time for games.”

Ah, yes, games. Lately, there have been some hard lessons for both player and coach. Hetman has seen the ugly side of football and doesn’t quite understand it.

Word got back to her that one rival coach was using her as cannon fodder to fire up his team. After a lopsided loss, Hetman had a few earthy comments at the ready.

“He told his team that there was no way they were going to lose to a woman,” she said. “He said there was no way I belonged out here. He walked by after the game and I said, ‘Thanks for running up the score.’

“The first thing we’re trying to teach the kids is sportsmanship. We’re trying to teach these kids to be men, not (jerks).”

Kids they are, to be sure. For those unfamiliar with City Section football, the B team is for smaller, younger players. In short, if the varsity is for the big dogs, the B team is for Vienna Sausage. Most of her players are scrawny, eager freshmen.

“Sometimes, I feel like a baby-sitter,” Hetman said. “To be honest, I think it’s easier to coach girls than it is guys. Maybe it’s their age. Ninth-grade boys are so squirrelly and ninth-grade girls are a little more mature. With the guys, their attention span is so, so small.”

There have been special moments to help her through the high seas, such as the instances in which female students dole out praise.

“The best thing is when girls in the school come up and say, ‘Miss Hetman, I totally respect you and I love what you’re doing,’ ” Hetman said.

High praise. Ask any teacher to recall the last time a student said the teacher’s efforts were respected and an answer usually will be a long time coming.

When it comes to spare time, Hetman has precious little. In addition to being a full-time physical education teacher, Hetman works three nights a week at a grocery store, from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. She also bicycles 100-150 miles a week and tries to spend as much time as possible with her boyfriend.

Hetman agreed to take the coaching job on a wait-and-see basis. She will tell Starr in the spring whether she wants to coach football in 1993.

“I don’t really know,” she said. “I’m getting married, and who knows, I might be pregnant next year. Can you imagine, a pregnant woman on the sideline?”

Why not?

A few weeks ago, most folks couldn’t imagine the woman part of that question.