Fertig’s hiring lauded

Barry Faulkner

Coaching colleagues were among those who gave Craig Fertig, hired

Monday to coach the Estancia High football team, a ringing

endorsement as he takes over a program that was 1-18 the last two

seasons.

And while some cautioned those who believe Fertig’s presence will

restore the Eagles to the top competitive echelon overnight, all

agree the program is fortunate to have someone with the former Oregon

State head coach and longtime USC assistant’s experience and

background.

“When (Estancia Principal Tom Antal) introduced him to the

players, everyone was amazed at his background,” said Mike Cahill, a

running back and linebacker who will be a senior next season. “I

wondered why he was coming to Estancia, because it seems like he

belongs at Florida State.”

Paul Salata, a former USC football star who played in the NFL and

has been a leading Trojan booster in an area teeming with Cardinal

and Gold alumni and supporters, said Fertig’s hiring brought to mind

the tenure of Mike Giddings at Newport Harbor.

“I think it’s a neat idea for high school football in general and

for Estancia in particular,” Salata said. “I think he’ll do a good

job. After all, it worked for Giddings.”

Giddings, a defensive coordinator for USC’s 1962 national

championship team, who later was an assistant with the San Francisco

49ers and, in 1974, was the head coach of the Hawaii Hawaiians in the

old World Football League, coached Newport Harbor’s varsity to at

least a share of three league titles in four seasons (1982-85).

Giddings, who still runs the pro football scouting service he founded

in 1977, coached one season at USC with Fertig.

“The one thing I can tell Craig is that the feelings -- the same

highs when you win and the same lows when you lose, the excitement of

getting ready and the preparation all week -- are exactly the same at

the high school level as any other level of football,” Giddings said.

“I believe high school is very similar to the pros in the sense that

if the players believe in you and you have their attention, you’ve

got a chance to succeed.

“Strategy wise, you don’t have as much time to do things in high

school as you do at other levels. But, like the old cliche we’ve

heard 1,000 times, football games are still won by blocking and

tackling.”

Giddings believes the Eagles will benefit from Fertig’s teaching

skills.

“He was drafted in 1965 out of USC by Pittsburgh and they gave him

a signing bonus,” Giddings recalled. “But I remember (John McKay)

telling Craig he’d make a pretty good coach, so he never went to

Pittsburgh. He even sent his signing bonus back.

“I have five trick plays for him if he needs them.”

Rod Sherman, linked with Fertig in Trojan football lore after

catching Fertig’s game-winning touchdown pass in the closing minutes

of a 20-17 upset of unbeaten and top-ranked Notre Dame in the

Fertig’s last college game, was pleased to learn his former teammate

was returning to the sideline.

“The great ones don’t lose it and I believe Craig is a great one,”

Sherman said. “Craig was a teacher, even when he as a player. He was

a unifying force as a quarterback at USC. Regardless of the level of

athletics, there are egos involved and, perhaps, more than anyone

else I played with, Craig was a guy who could blend those egos toward

a common goal. My only concern, as a fellow redhead, is whether he

has enough sun screen.”

Mater Dei football coach Bruce Rollinson, a running back during

Fertig’s coaching tenure at USC, termed the 60-year-old Fertig a

mentor, with whom he has remained close.

“I’m a little surprised to hear about him going to Estancia, but

when it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood,” Rollinson said. “He was

always a force behind me, to keep me fired up and motivated in

college. And he has always been gracious enough to call and

congratulate me the times I’ve had success.

“He’s probably attended more practices and coached more football

than all of us combined. When he’s up at USC (preparing for his work

as a television analyst), he’s in the coaches’ meetings and they’re

asking him for his input, so developing schemes is second nature to

him. But there’s an old philosophy both Craig and I learned at USC,

that it’s not the plays, but the players, that make winning teams.

“I think it will take Craig a couple years to develop kids and

convert them to a winning attitude. No matter if it’s Craig Fertig or

anyone else, they’re not going to go in there and turn the thing

around instantaneously. If anything positive happens next season,

they should be grateful.”

Among Fertig’s closest confidants in Orange County prep football

is Tustin Coach Myron Miller, formerly the head man at Costa Mesa.

“We’ve talked a whole bunch since he applied for the job and I

think the hard part for him is going to be all the things that go

with running a program that have nothing to do with being on the

field,” Miller said. “But Craig is such a great guy, I think if the

kids give him half a chance, they’re going to love the guy. He’s just

impossible not to like.”

Miller, who has invited Fertig to watch Tustin practices and

games, has also witnessed Fertig’s fertile football mind in action.

“He’ll have something to overcome, having been out of coaching

awhile (since 1979), but he hasn’t been away from football,” Miller

said. “He still analyzes football and I’ve used his expertise. The

game hasn’t changed all that much, anyway. It still comes down to

blocking and tackling and finding something you can do well. But

coaching also has a lot to do with relating to kids and he doesn’t

have to learn how to do that.”

Miller believes Estancia should be thankful to have landed Fertig.

“Estancia is an entry level job right now,” he said, “so the

school is lucky to get a guy like him. Guys the caliber of John

Barnes (the county’s all-time coaching victories leader at Los

Alamitos) or Bruce Rollinson weren’t applying for that job. It’s

going to take someone a lot of work to turn that thing around. I’ll

be happy to help him any way I can.”

Dave Perkins, who left Estancia for the head coaching job at

crosstown rival Costa Mesa before the 2001 season, wishes Fertig

well.

“He has a good personality and football knowledge,” Perkins said.

“I just hope he doesn’t get there and become disillusioned. I hope

they win every game but one.”