Quina Back at Alma Mater Royal as Assistant

Stan Quina, an assistant football coach at Ventura College, will return to high school coaching next season as an assistant at Royal, Highlander Coach Gene Uebelhardt said Thursday.

Quina, 38, the head coach at Simi Valley for three seasons until his dismissal after the 1992 season, will coordinate the Highlander offense. Quina was the Pirates’ offensive coordinator this fall.

Quina, a 1973 graduate of Royal and an assistant at Royal and Moorpark College before taking the Simi Valley job, said he wanted to return to a school closer to his home and his full-time job at a financial services agency in Simi Valley.

“My business is out here in Simi Valley,” Quina said. “I grew up here. I kind of look at it like this is what I want to do for my community service, if that doesn’t sound too corny.”

Uebelhardt, who had coached the offense, hired Quina for his knowledge of the passing game.

“We need our offense to be more balanced,” Uebelhardt said. “Stan’s reputation precedes him in (Simi Valley) when it comes to passing. I expect us to double our passing production (from last season).”

Simi Valley was 14-9 under Quina in 1991 and ’92 after going 0-10 in his first season. The Pioneers finished 7-5 in ’92 and reached the Southern Section Division III quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Hawthorne.

Quina, however, was fired last season because of a dispute with school officials over his job status. A walk-on coach, Quina sought a coaching job that included a full-time teaching position. Uebelhardt said Quina will not have a teaching position at Royal.

Under Quina’s direction, the Pirates’ offense finished last in the Western State Conference (148.6 yards per game). Ventura was 0-10.

Royal is expected to be among the Marmonte League’s elite teams next season. The Highlanders (6-5) finished third in league and advanced to the Division III playoffs, losing in the opening round to West Covina, 27-10.

Royal has 17 starters returning, including eight on offense. Uebelhardt hopes Quina can have an immediate impact on junior quarterback Wes Lagatta (5-foot-11, 170 pounds), who completed 50% of his passes for 882 yards with six touchdowns and nine interceptions.

“Stan developed a Division I quarterback (Eric Bennett, Nevada) at Simi Valley,” Uebelhardt said. “We’ve got a lot of good, young quarterbacks coming into the program, and Stan will help us now and over the long haul.”

Quina said: “You can assume that you are going to see more of a passing attack than you have seen at Royal, but Gene has indicated he’d like to be very balanced.”