Northridge Offers Borges, Wall Return to Coaching

Letting bygones be bygones might be the first order of business during the off-season for the Cal State Northridge football team.

But it wouldn’t be an easy task.

Northridge this week announced that former assistants Keith Borges and Craig Wall have been offered a return to the coaching staff after a one-year hiatus spurred by an internal investigation of the program.

Curiously, the announcement came a day after Borges and Wall, who remain physical education teachers at Northridge, filed a $6 million legal claim against the university, alleging they were victims of retaliation for cooperating in the investigation. However, a campus spokesman said the coaches were offered contracts before school officials learned of the claim.

Either way, the return of Borges and Wall isn’t likely to be cheered. It’s no secret they are an an unpopular pair among players and coaches. Fences don’t figure to mend easily.

“I don’t think it will work,” said receiver Aaron Arnold, a senior this season. “They definitely won’t be welcomed back. None of the players respect them. As a player myself, I feel they messed up our whole season.”

Many players believe Borges and Wall were responsible for triggering the investigation--which led to the firing of former coach Ron Ponciano and resignation of top assistant Rob Phenicie--because of strife among the staff.

Northridge launched an investigation in May after receiving an anonymous letter alleging numerous rules violations, including illegal barbecues and submission of false expense reports.

The university recommended two years’ probation for the program in its report to the NCAA. The NCAA has yet to respond.

Neither, for that matter, have Borges and Wall.

Neither have returned phone calls this week to The Times. Neither have offered a reply to Athletic Director Dick Dull. Neither have been in contact with players or coaches for months.

“I haven’t laid eyes on them since I got the job [in July],” interim Coach Jeff Kearin said. “When I had my press conference, all the [other] coaches were here. If they came to me and asked for a coaching position, I’d have considered them.

“But they never called me. I shouldn’t have to go looking for them.”

Kearin said he unsuccessfully attempted to contact Wall about joining the staff. Kearin said he was informed by Dull that Borges told him he wasn’t interested in coaching in 1999.

Dull, who began at Northridge in July, said he made the decision to reassign Borges and Wall for the sake of easing tensions. Ponciano was fired July 16 and Kearin hired six days later.

“It was an incredibly volatile time with Jeff coming in, and I thought I’d give him the chance to pick his own staff,” Dull said. “I was afraid of the whole team falling apart at that time. Those were difficult times for everyone in the program. But calmer heads have prevailed now.”

Kearin, an assistant with Borges and Wall under Ponciano, said he is willing to work with both again. But he expressed regret over a lack of control in choosing a staff.

“It’s not that I don’t want them here,” Kearin said. “When you get a group of people together, there are players who don’t like coaches and coaches who don’t like players. I’m not asking anyone to be best friends. But we have to work together.”

Foster Andersen, expected to return next season as defensive coordinator, described the situation as “a conundrum there is no easy answer to.

“It’s hard to overcome the feeling that this shouldn’t have happened--not to the magnitude that it did,” Andersen said.

“Those guys are friends of mine, but another friend of mine is [Ponciano]. I don’t relish the idea of coaching in a situation where there are hard feelings back and forth. This game runs on enough emotion as it is.”

The prospect of Borges and Wall being reassigned to the football team was always a matter of discussion, Dull said. They have kept their job titles and their salaries are being paid out of the football budget.

“They’ve been employed as assistant coaches continually through the whole process,” campus spokesman John Chandler said. “The only issue was what their job duties were. They were just not involved in coaching the team last season.”

They won’t likely be next season, either--unless an ugly episode is put to rest.

“A lot of it needs to be resolved in the office,” said fullback Jaumal Bradley, a senior this season. “I’m an alumni now, but I plan to be around and watch.

“I’m hoping the guys get a little stability in the office before the schedule gets going.”