Nordhoff’s Football Team Is Used to Hearing Musick

Hang around the Nordhoff High football team and you can turn up Musicks in high volume.

Jim Musick is the quarterback and free safety. His father, Dan, is the offensive coordinator, who played for his father, Bobbie, a former football standout who has attended all but one of Nordhoff’s last 24 games.

All three will be in the mix tonight when the Rangers (12-0-1) play St. Bonaventure (11-1-1) in the Southern Section Division X final at 7:30 at Nordhoff.

Bobbie, who coached each of his four sons at Northview High in Covina from 1963-72, says he’s not nervous.

“If I was coaching, then I’d be nervous,” he said. “But I’ll just sit back and cheer.”

Bobbie has had much to yell about. His grandson has made 104 tackles, and five weeks ago Jim also stepped in at quarterback for injured starter Matt Cresto, with whom he had split time for four seasons.

That Jim Musick has handled both roles with aplomb suggests much about his improvement, for he wanted to quit football after last season’s Calabasas game.

“I didn’t play [quarterback] well, my dad pulled me out of the game and the fans cheered when I came out,” Jim said.

His father tried to remain impassive.

“That was a hard moment, trying to be a coach, not a parent,” Dan Musick said. “We struggled offensively all season and it seemed that any mistake by the quarterback just amplified the problem.”

In August, Musick settled in at safety and was an immediate hit. Unfettered by a mandate that he be the last line of defense, the senior has consistently made tackles at the line of scrimmage.

Football success runs in the family. Bobbie and his brothers Jim, Billie and Jackie all played at Santa Ana High and USC during the 1940s.

Bobbie won three letters as a Trojan fullback. At Northview, he coached Dan and his three other sons and guided the Vikings to a Southern Section final in 1972.

The intergenerational role of football is not lost on the Musicks, but that doesn’t mean they discuss it at length.

“We spend a lot of time together, but we don’t talk a lot,” Dan said. “We just instinctively know it means a lot to us. When I see my dad put an arm around Jim, that’s special. And I can see in his eyes and his smile that he’s really proud.”