His Vision Brings Blue Skies to Saddleback : Community colleges: No matter the outcome, football and golf coach Cunerty keeps smiling.

It’s fitting that Bill Cunerty’s office at Saddleback College sits between the two areas of the campus most important to him.

First, there is the football field, where Cunerty is in his first year as head coach after 14 seasons as an assistant. His team won its final five games and finished first in the Mission Conference Central Division.

Cunerty also has run the West Coast Passing School on the field each summer since 1982. He has trained many of Orange County’s top quarterbacks and receivers, including former USC and Raider quarterback Todd Marinovich.

Cunerty’s office is also located just behind the campus’ golf driving range, which is also dear to him.

Cunerty, who campaigned for about 10 years to build the facility, doubles as the Saddleback men’s golf coach. His teams have won four State titles in his 14 seasons.

Inside Cunerty’s office, the walls are covered with an assortment of awards to reflect his diverse talents, including a football impaled by the shaft of a driver.

Cunerty, who played football and baseball at USC where he graduated with a degree in journalism, usually can be found behind his desk smiling.

In fact, he smiles so much that some call him “Blue Sky Bill.”

He smiled when Saddleback won national titles in 1985 and 1992. But he smiles no matter what the team’s record.

He even continued to smile when he was diagnosed with cancer two years ago.

Cunerty didn’t go public with his illness. He told only a few close friends, but even then he didn’t get specific and prefers not to mention the type of cancer. He didn’t want to alarm anybody.

“I just put it in the Lord’s hands and went on with my life,” said Cunerty, who took a sabbatical last fall but says he feels fine now. “I don’t have a lot of time to sit down and worry about it. I just always expect something good to happen.”

Cunerty, 49, didn’t rest when he was away from football.

He can’t. He’s just not the type.

He split time between family--his wife, Claudia, and daughters Kelly (21) and Shannon (16)--and touring football programs to get new ideas. Plus, he played a lot of golf.

Cunerty, also an author, plays on a competitive golf tour and works as a television analyst, is helped by the fact that he sleeps about six hours (midnight to six) a night.

“It’s just his nature,” Claudia said. “We do strike a good balance. He keeps me moving and I slow him down a bit.”

Cunerty, who is also the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, visited 13 major Division I programs and four professional teams. He and Claudia also got the chance to help Kelly, who was a cheerleader at Saddleback for two years, move into her dorm at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff.

“I found out there was a whole world that existed from August to September that I hadn’t seen in 26 years of coaching,” Cunerty said. “It was great. We got to be there for parents’ weekend and that was very special.

“I really liked going to all those practices too. The other coaches would go home and worry and I’d go play golf. But it did really make me think about how much time I’m spending with other people’s children.”

While Cunerty was away, Saddleback Coach Ken Swearingen, the winningest all-time community college football coach in the nation, announced his retirement.

The timing turned out to be good for Cunerty, who wanted to be a head coach again. He already had been a high school head coach at North Torrance (1972-74), Dana Hills (1975-76) and Capistrano Valley (1977-79). He came to Saddleback in 1980.

His experience and knowledge of the community college level made him the favorite to take over. But there were concerns that being the head coach in two sports would be too draining.

He consulted with his family, which wanted him to take the job, and his doctor, who also told him to give it a try. Cunerty said he came back more to work with and against the other coaches because he missed that the most.

“This change in our program has been very healthy,” Athletic Director Keith Calkins said. “The team is having a lot of fun and we’ve gotten a lot of positive comments from the community.”

It’s no surprise. The first thing Cunerty said when taking over was “the job has to be fun.”

He wanted to demonstrate to the players and his coaching staff that they still can have a good time as long as everybody works hard.

“He’s an amazing guy,” said Tom Shine, offensive coordinator at Rancho Santiago and one of Cunerty’s closest friends. “He has a great memory and is a great story teller because he can remember everything. Plus, he is one of the most innovative football minds there is. I think I’ve said too many nice things about him. Now everybody will want to play for him.”

Cunerty’s positive outlook comes from his parents and his sister.

“We were taught to don’t let anything get you down and always keep a smile on your face,” he said. “We have a thing called B.N.T.P. which means ‘Be nice to people,’ and say thank you. That’s just the way I was raised.”

Cunerty doesn’t limit himself to coaching football during the fall.

He also provides color commentary for weekly high school football broadcasts. Cunerty, who works for free, approached Paul Higgins, who heads Athletes in Motion production company, five years ago and asked to help out.

“There’s only one person on the planet who knows more people than Bill and that’s God,” Higgins said. “I think he could work next to Dick Enberg if he wanted to. He just knows so much. When we are in break he tells me what the next play will be. He has the ability to put the game in terms that [everybody] understands.”

Once football season is over, Cunerty will focus his attention on another passion--golf. Cunerty became serious about the game while recovering from an injury at USC.

He loves to coach but golf allows him to compete as well. This summer he won four tournaments in his age division on the Golden State Tour.

Besides coaching his team and playing, he is also on the board of directors of the Southern California Golf Assn. and works on its committee that rates new courses.

He is also the author of “Sequential Golf: Guide to the Game for a Lifetime,” which is used as a textbook by several college golf classes.

Cunerty constantly competes against, and often beats, members of his golf team. He sees it as a way to maintain their respect.

“Coaching golf is a little different,” he said. “It’s not like you can tell them to go out and knock the flagstick over or run into the van. I just like to get inside their heads and help them with the pressure of competition.”

It’s difficult to argue with Cunerty’s methods. His teams have won 13 conference titles in 14 seasons and advanced to the State tournament 12 times.

“I really think I have the greatest job in America. I really don’t take the time to think that I’m too busy,” Cunerty said. “I just think you have to drain everything out of life and do everything you can for as long as you can. I don’t want to get to the end and be shortchanged.”