Bangs Quits as Woodbridge Coach : Basketball: He is awaiting approval to teach and become an assistant women’s coach at Irvine Valley College.

Eric Bangs, who coached Woodbridge High to the State Division II girls’ basketball title this year, told his players on Monday that he was resigning to pursue his teaching career.

Bangs will continue as a special education teacher at Woodbridge, but he also would become a part-time instructor at Irvine Valley College pending approval by its board of trustees.

Given approval, he would also become an assistant to Coach Lisa McNamee on the women’s basketball team, which will play its first season this winter.

Bangs said Tuesday that he made the move to accommodate his professional teaching goals, not his coaching goals. He also hopes to finish his second masters program, in physical education.

“I’ve met all my (coaching) goals for Woodbridge,” Bangs said. “It would be nice to coach these girls because it’s a nice group coming back, but sometimes you have to make a move and this is the time.”

Woodbridge finished 33-1 this year and ended the season ranked 14th nationally by USA Today; four starters will return to the program next year after winning the state Division II title.

Bangs’ teams have won 20 games every year since the 1983-84 season, and he compiled a 296-69 career record. The Warriors are only the second team from Orange County to win a girls’ basketball state title and finished ranked No. 1 in the state, a goal Bangs set for his program after a one-year sabbatical in 1991 to re-evaluate his commitment to coaching.

Woodbridge won the State title by beating Sacramento El Camino, 55-40, in March; the two teams also played for the state title in 1994.

Even if Bangs is not approved to teach at Irvine Valley, he will not return as the Woodbridge coach.

“If you have a goal that you want to teach at a college level, you have to take steps to get there,” Bangs said. “I could win a national title next year (at Woodbridge) and it’s not going to help me get a foot in the door; to get a foot in the door it’s going to take getting some experience and completing my masters.”

“I’ll probably coach as long as I’m around, but it could be a hobby--National Junior Basketball, my sons. But it’s not what I do. . . . It’s not my main priority or goal. You’re not going to see me at Long Beach State and not teaching. If I can teach and coach and something comes up, I’ll look at it.”

Woodbridge sophomore Krissy Duperron said the announcement caught her off guard and left her and her teammates in tears: “We’re all sad that he’s leaving, but we understand that it’s for the betterment of his family, and we all want him to do really well.”

Should Bangs join the coaching staff at Irvine Valley, it will give the community college two local coaches who reached the state championship game--McNamee directed Costa Mesa to the 1993 final.