Boehm Is New Coach at Leuzinger

Fred Boehm, a Leuzinger High assistant for seven of the past nine seasons and a former coach at three high schools, has been named football coach at Leuzinger.

Boehm replaces Steve Carnes, who resigned last week. Carnes, an assistant principal at Leuzinger, coached the Olympians for eight of the past nine seasons.

After Carnes resigned, Boehm said he planned to stop coaching until it became apparent this week that Leuzinger needed someone to step forward.

He decided to take the job Thursday, the day after several Leuzinger players participated in a passing league game without a coach.

“I’ve been working with the kids, so I’ve been in the middle of the whole thing,” Boehm said. “There were rumbles of kids leaving and transferring. Everything was sort of in limbo. Under the circumstances, I said I would take the job for at least this upcoming season.

“And who knows? I plan to be (at Leuzinger) for another four years. If I’m here, I might as well be coaching.”

Lou Lichtl, who recently resigned as coach at Culver City High, reportedly was the front-runner for the Leuzinger job. But Boehm said Lichtl withdrew from consideration on Wednesday and plans to remain a teacher at Culver City and coach part time at Santa Monica College.

“It’s certainly a strange type of situation,” Boehm said. “My long hours are beginning again.”

Boehm has not run a football program since 1982, the last of his two seasons at Hawthorne. He was the coach for three seasons (1967-69) at Bassett High in La Puente and five seasons (1974-78) at Lawndale. His 10-year career record is 57-46, with two league titles.

Last season, with Boehm as defensive coordinator, Leuzinger (6-5) tied Hawthorne and Peninsula for the Bay League title. Boehm said he expects most of the coaching staff to return.