Isom Resigns Football Post at Ocean View

Ocean View High School varsity football Coach Howard Isom announced Monday that he has resigned his position after four seasons.

Isom, 45, led Ocean View to two Southern Section Division I playoff berths, but the program has hard times the past two seasons. The Seahawks were 13-27-1 under Isom, but have lost 19 of their last 20 games.

“I’m getting tired and frustrated,” said Isom, who has taught in the Huntington Beach Union High School District for 20 years. “It was really frustrating trying to get athletes at this school to come out for football.”

Baseball Coach Steve Barrett and basketball Coach Jim Harris encourage their players to compete in only one sport at Ocean View. Isom had only one basketball player--Palisades transfer Mike Randall--and no baseball players on the team.

“I decided to resign at this time in order to give the new coach time to put everything into place before spring football begins,” Isom said. “My only hope is that things will change for the new coach, and that the athletes at this school won’t be single-sport athletes.”

Isom said he will continue to teach U.S. history at Ocean View.

Ocean View was declared co-champion of the Sunset League in 1989 with Edison after Huntington Beach was forced to forfeit its league victories for using an ineligible player. The Seahawks also qualified for the playoffs in 1990 as the third-place team.

“Those were the highlights of my career,” Isom said. “But the past two years haven’t been a lot of fun. I took some time after the season to separate myself from the program and came to the decision that it was time for a change.”

Isom lives in Riverside County and has been commuting to Huntington Beach for the past 16 years. He said he plans to remain in the Huntington Beach district next year.