Chaminade Coach Ed Croson leaves nothing to chance

How many high school football coaches care if their players eat Pop-Tarts for breakfast?

Ed Croson of West Hills Chaminade does. He lectures about eating eggs and meat because they have protein. He talks about the importance of foods with antioxidants to prevent colds. He warns players to start wearing long-sleeve shirts to protect against cooler temperatures.

Nothing is left for chance, and it’s just another sign of the Croson effect at Chaminade.

The man is a master teacher and coach.

Chaminade is 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in the Western Division behind Gardena Serra (6-0) going into a Friday game against La Canada St. Francis. Not bad for a program that was going nowhere until Croson arrived two years ago after winning four City Section championships at Lake Balboa Birmingham.

During spring practice in 2009, there were 13 coaches and 18 players for the varsity and junior varsity teams. Students had abandoned the football program in droves.

“I remember walking and telling the coaches, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I dragged you over here, but there’s no way we’ll ever win a game,’” Croson said. “So the first thing we had to do is recruit on campus. We got lacrosse players, basketball players, baseball players. We got these guys to come back and play.”

This season, not only is the varsity team unbeaten, but the Eagles’ junior varsity squad — with eight freshmen starters — has been routing one opponent after another.

“Before, football wasn’t the big thing around school,” senior linebacker Sam Mercer said. “It is now. It’s really a big deal and a focal point.”

Mercer was one of those 18 players who went out for spring ball and wondered how things were going to turn around.

“I think there are five guys who were on my freshman football team that are still playing today,” he said. “With 18, we were going, ‘This is going to be tough.’ But he got people to come out.”

Said Croson: “It was a grass-roots operation building up from the bottom.”

Chaminade has improved each week this season and earned impressive victories over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. The Eagles have been using two junior quarterbacks in Logan Scott and Brad Hunt, and strangely, the quarterback who doesn’t start has been named the team player of the week four times.

Among the players emerging as standouts are kicker-punter Matt Goudis, running back Tru Jarvis, defensive lineman Jason Franklin, defensive back Tanner Reibenspies and running back Terrell Newby.

But everything centers around Croson, who thrives on organizational and communication skills while also trying to teach life lessons.

“He’s helped us grow as young men,” said Goudis, a Boise State commit.

Croson doesn’t have players yet with the speed, size and talent compared to his days at Birmingham, where the Patriots knocked off Long Beach Poly, Crenshaw and Woodland Hills Taft.

He said his players make up for any deficiencies with their spirit and dedication.

A showdown is looming on Nov. 5 against unbeaten Serra. But the players have learned from Croson not to look ahead.

“We don’t want to think about Serra,” Mercer said. “We don’t want to think about the teams ahead. We want to think about the chapter we’re on right now. This is Chapter 7, St. Francis.”

The No. 1 requirement for any coach to make a difference is getting players to listen, and Croson is doing just that.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter.com/LATSondheimer