Breakfast Club Puts It All on the Table

One way to ease suspicions among rival coaches about sinister motives is to put them together in a room and let them talk. Inevitably, they’ll become friends instead of enemies, supporters instead of adversaries.

The strategy is working for a group of high school football coaches from Ventura County. For the second consecutive year, Mike Sanders of Thousand Oaks, Bill Redell of Westlake Village Oaks Christian, Jim Benkert of Westlake Village Westlake and George Hurley of Newbury Park meet each Friday for breakfast.

While sipping coffee and between bites of scrambled eggs, they calmly discuss the latest transfer rumors, review controversial official calls, exchange stories of coaching problems and crack jokes that even Jay Leno could use.

“What’s the best kid you’ve ever coached?” Benkert said. “It’s the one who came from an orphanage.”

See, football coaches do have something in common: They all have to deal with crazy parents.

The meetings have been successful in reviving the relationship between Redell and Benkert, who coached together at Encino Crespi in the 1980s. When Redell was selected coach at Oaks Christian, only a few blocks from Westlake, their relationship deteriorated over concerns of player movement.

Thanks to the meetings, their lines of communication are open and misunderstandings are quickly resolved. But their competition for the best players in Westlake Village remains strong.

“Are we going to play?” Redell keeps asking Benkert.

“They’re never going to play,” Sanders said.

The coaches have learned to like each other and appreciate the challenges each faces.

“We all have the same headaches and commiserate,” Sanders said.

“Or we find out their problems are worse,” Benkert said.

Mostly, the coaches gang up on Redell, the senior citizen of the group.

“I went deaf in one ear and they’re picking on a guy with a disability,” Redell said.

Sanders, who was an assistant to Redell at La Canada St. Francis, believes similar gatherings would be helpful elsewhere.

“It’s good to sit with guys that deal with the same things,” he said. “The challenges are numerous, like being in an emergency room on your lunch hour. I think everybody looks forward to this. If there is a misunderstanding that arises, it gets squashed. You just realize sometimes things happen. It’s not intentional. Ninety percent of human conflict is misunderstanding.”

Added Benkert: “All of us realize winning football games is not above this camaraderie.”

Of course, humor is frequently used to strengthen friendships, and these coaches know how to tease each other.

Redell has been on the receiving end of stories about how much money he’s getting paid to coach at Oaks Christian. The rumor has been as high as $100,000.

“One of the guys who started that rumor is at this table,” he said.

Each coach takes a turn picking up the restaurant check. It was Redell’s turn this particular morning, but he got the last laugh.

He didn’t have to pay. The sportswriter picked up the check. The other coaches suddenly realized the reason Redell invited the guest to breakfast.

Sinister motives die hard.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com