Talented Young Coaches Wait for Chance to Lead

What principal wouldn’t be impressed with Matt LaCour’s coaching resume?

Two years as a baseball assistant at UC Santa Barbara. Three years as an assistant to Tom Meusborn at defending City Champion Chatsworth High. Three years as coach of the Chancellors’ American Legion team that reached the World Series. Two years as a physical education teacher.

You want family values? LaCour turned down a World Series trip last summer to keep his wedding date and go on his honeymoon in Italy.

“That should count for something,” he said. “And I’m still married.”

But here’s the fact that makes principals really nervous: He’s 25 and looks 18. If only he could grow some facial hair.

“Believe me, if I could grow a beard, it would have been done by now,” he said.

For whatever reason, many principals don’t trust young coaches when it comes to hiring replacements at winning programs. They want head coaching experience and proof of maturity before allowing someone to take on the responsibility of dealing with teenagers, parents and the media at the varsity level.

There are countless stories of promising young coaches being turned down, then performing beyond expectations when given the chance.

At 25, Jim Bonds applied for the football coaching position at Granada Hills. He was passed over. He applied at Temple City and Saugus. No takers.

At 28, he applied at Alemany, a school that had one playoff appearance in the 1990s. The Indians took a chance and hit the jackpot. At one point last season, Alemany was ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times.

At 30, Mike Herrington wanted to be football coach at Hart, his alma mater. He had been a long-time assistant. But in 1988, when the job opened, he was turned down in favor of the more experienced Dave Carson, the coach at Burbank.

It was one of the biggest blunders in region sports history. Herrington left the program to become coach at Bellflower. A year later, the Indians recognized their error and Herrington was hired. The rest is history. His 11-year record is 120-23, including three Southern Section championships and 10 Foothill League titles.

“All I know is you never want to burn any bridges because it could come back to haunt you,” Herrington said. “Even though I was upset at the time, I didn’t do anything stupid, which gave me the opportunity a year later. You just keep on being persistent.”

There are principals who have shown courage and insight in trusting young coaches.

Bobby Braswell was hired as boys’ basketball coach at Cleveland in 1985 at 23. The Cavaliers’ program was among the region’s best under Coach Greg Herrick, who groomed Braswell to succeed him. Braswell ended up coaching four years at Cleveland before moving to the college ranks.

“Greg had put me in charge of the junior varsity the first year out of high school,” Braswell said. “As the years went by, he gave me more responsibility. I think it was a natural fit and transition.”

But Braswell said he understands the concerns principals have about young coaches. They want to determine a coach’s true character before hiring.

“There’s reason to be afraid,” Braswell said. “You want to make sure the person you’re exposing to young people has integrity and isn’t going to harm the school.”

One way a young coach can convince administrators of his or her ability is from up-close observation. Rising from within a school is much easier than seeking a position at another school.

Raquel Alotis was a substitute girls’ physical education teacher at Chatsworth. When she impressed administrators with her teaching ability, they had no trouble promoting her to girls’ basketball coach at 23. What a brilliant decision, for Chatsworth finished as West Valley League co-champion under Alotis this season, her second as coach.

“If you’re on top of things, it doesn’t take long to prove yourself,” Alotis said.

Not that people still don’t mistake her for a student.

“I’ll walk up to a guy, ‘Ah, where’s the coach?’ ” Alotis said.

The toughest sport in which to convince a principal to hire a young coach is football because of the number of players. But Jason Garrison pulled it off at North Hollywood. He was hired four years ago at 24, making him the youngest football coach in the City Section. He was an assistant at the school for seven years under two respected coaches, Fred Grimes and Gary Gray.

“When the time came, I think I had proven myself trustworthy enough to offer the job to me,” Garrison said. “I don’t think the X’s and O’s should play a part until they know they can trust that person. When you’re close in age, people seem to think you might have some of the same mentality of the students you’re dealing with. It’s a matter of training you’ve gone through.”

There are some excellent young coaches waiting for their first cracks at a varsity position.

Dave Siedelman, 29, is a successful junior varsity baseball coach at El Camino Real.

Mike Leibin, 22, was just named defensive coordinator at Westlake and should be on everyone’s short list of future football coaches.

And then there’s LaCour. He was a finalist for the Hart job when Bud Murray retired last spring but lost out to more experienced Jim Ozella.

The best baseball job available is at Oaks Christian in Westlake Village. The school opens in September. They might want to give LaCour a call before someone else takes him away.

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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (8180 772-33422 or Eric.Sondheimer@latimes.com