Barnett Steps Down as Trabuco Hills Football Coach

Jim Barnett, who started the Trabuco Hills football program and within four years turned it into a power, has resigned as coach, Principal George Diedrich said Thursday.

Barnett said part of the reason he resigned was his concern that Trabuco Hills could not remain competitive in Division I.

The Mustangs joined the South Coast League this season after eight seasons in the Pacific Coast League, a Division VIII league.

Trabuco Hills, with nearly 1,800 students, was playing against schools significantly larger, including Mater Dei, according to Barnett.

“I don’t think Trabuco Hills was designed to be a Division I school,” Barnett said. “With the budget cuts, we’re not going to grow any more. When you have a school in your league that is already bigger than you and (has no enrollment boundaries), that doesn’t present a pretty picture. We would being playing for second place every year.”

The Mustangs were 10-3 and finished second in the league to Mater Dei this season. They also reached the division semifinals, where they lost to top-seeded Bishop Amat. But Barnett said sustaining that success would be difficult.

“I’m not taking shots at Mater Dei,” he said. “I don’t even think they wanted to be in the league. It’s more a CIF issue. But now we’re stuck with them until who knows when. It was going to take a tremendous amount of work to keep the program competitive. After 10 years, I’m not sure I had the energy to get it done. If you’re not sure you want to work hard, maybe it’s time to do something else.”

Barnett is the second South Coast League coach to resign in as many days. Capistrano Valley’s Eric Patton announced Wednesday he was leaving to be an assistant at Saddleback College.

Barnett, who attended Lakewood High and Long Beach State, has been Mustangs’ coach since the school opened in 1985. He compiled an 81-30-2 record and won three Southern Section championships. Barnett said he will remain at the school as a teacher.

Previously, he spent nine successful years at Long Beach Poly--five as head coach and four as an assistant. The Jackrabbits won five Moore League titles and were Division I runners-up twice during that time.

When Barnett arrived at Trabuco Hills, the school didn’t even have grass, let alone a stadium. He quickly built the Mustangs into winners. They began playing in their on-campus stadium in 1992.

Trabuco Hills won back-to-back Division VIII titles in 1988-89 and another in 1993. The Mustangs also finished second to Laguna Hills in the 1991 Division VII final.

Barnett’s up-tempo offense produced top-flight quarterbacks, including John Barnes (UCLA), David Lowery (San Diego State) and Pat Barnes (California).