HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

By STEVE HENSON

Oct. 25, 2000 12 AM PT

The Kennedy High field will be named for John Haynes, the school’s first football coach, Friday night before the Cougars’ game against Van Nuys.

Haynes was head coach from 1971, the year Kennedy opened, until 1986, when Bob Francola took over. Haynes remained as an assistant through 1989. Francola is still the coach.

“John Haynes is my mentor,” Francola said. “I bounce a lot of things off him. This was a lucky place to become a head coach for the first time.

“I felt a responsibility to build on the foundation he established.”

Haynes retired as a teacher in June.

High School Sports

Steve Henson

Steve Henson is a reporter with the Fast Break sports team at the Los Angeles Times. He previously served as an assistant editor and reporter in the Sports department. Henson was a leader in digital-only newsrooms from 2007-19 as a senior editor and columnist at Yahoo Sports and as senior editor at the USA Today Sports Media Group. This is his second stint at The Times, having covered the Dodgers and UCLA as well as doing enterprise, investigative and features writing from 1985-2007. Henson was awarded first place in sports features in 2021 by the L.A. Press Club and has been honored several times by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and also by the California News Publishers Assn., the Football Writers Assn. of America and U.S. Basketball Writers Assn.

HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

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