Mohr Expected to Be Named Canyon Football Coach

Canyon High School is expected to announce as early as today that assistant coach Larry Mohr will succeed Harry Welch as the school’s head football coach.

Welch confirmed that Mohr was one of the three finalists for the job. The others, Riverside Poly Coach Dan Armstrong and former El Segundo Coach Dave Chauncey, said they have been eliminated as candidates.

Canyon Principal Mike Allmandinger would not confirm that Mohr has been offered the job, but Mohr said Wednesday, “I don’t know anything but I think that I have it.”

Allmandinger said he would make his recommendation to the William S. Hart Union High School District trustees, who were expected to meet in closed session on the matter Wednesday night.

“I got a letter in the mail today saying I was not chosen,” Armstrong said Tuesday. “I felt my interview went real well. I kind of thought I had the inside track. And I’ve heard through the coaching grapevine I’m not the guy for the (Valencia High) job either.”

Chauncey, who lives in the Santa Clarita Valley and commutes daily to a teaching job at Hawthorne High, said he applied at Canyon and Valencia, which opens in September but won’t start varsity football until 1995.

“My understanding is I’m not getting either job,” Chauncey said. “I’m still looking around, but I’m sure Larry will do a good job (if he gets it).”

Mohr, 35, is a special education teacher who came to Canyon last fall after serving 12 seasons as an assistant at Thousand Oaks. Welch, who posted a 120-31-2 record and led the Cowboys to three Southern Section championships in 12 years at Canyon, endorsed Mohr, calling his expected selection “a wise decision.”

“Larry is knowledgeable, intense and already has a good rapport with the players,” Welch said. “They like him and respect him. He would bring his fresh ideas while he would maintain tradition. He is my endorsement without reservation. I know he’ll do well.”