coaching

If you reach 300 career coaching victories in high school football in California, it usually means you’re headed to any and all halls of fame.

Matt Logan of Corona Centennial became the 15th coach to reach the magic club with a win on Thursday night.

It’s a combination of longevity and success. Many of California’s most memorable coaches are on the list.

The next coach within reach is Robert Garrett of Crenshaw. He started the season with 290 victories but has yet to be on the sideline while being under administrative leave by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Garrett has stayed home, checked in each day with full pay and continues to say he has done nothing wrong. LAUSD has 120 days to finish its ongoing investigation.

Crenshaw is 5-1 under interim coach Terrence Whitehead. Ronnie Flores of CalHiSports.com, which compiles the 300-club list, said Garrett will get credit for each Crenshaw victory or loss if he is eventually reinstated as coach.

Here’s a list of the 15 coaches in the 300 club, according to CalHiSports.com:

399 — Bob Ladouceur, De La Salle

360 — Marijon Ancich, St. Paul, Tustin

339 — Bruce Rollinson, Mater Dei

338 — Bob Johnson Los Amigos, El Toro, Mission Viejo

338 — Herb Meyer, Oceanside, El Camino

323 — John Barnes, Magnolia, Los Alamitos

319 — Lou Farrar, Royal Oak, Charter Oak

316 — Jim Benkert, Westlake, Oaks Christian, Simi Valley

316 — Kevin Rooney, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame

314 — Bill Foltner, Princeton, Middletown

313 — Randy Blankenship, Nevada Union, Clovis West, Fallbrook, Capistrano Valley, Madera, Aptos

306 — Mike Marrujo, Pius X, Placentia Valencia

300 — Matt Logan, Corona Centennial

300 — Steve Denman, Tehachapi

300 — Mike Herrington, Bellflower, Hart

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

ISAAC HAYDEN feels sympathy for Chelsea ‘bomb squad’ members Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi.

The ex-Newcastle midfielder, now at QPR, spent the first five months of last season in limbo after failing to secure a summer move.

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Sterling shared a photo of himself training alone late in the evening, while boss Enzo Maresca admitted he has not even spoken to the winger this season.

Hayden, 30, was not in Eddie Howe’s plans but his circumstances were slightly different.

He told SunSport: “I have sympathy because footballers want to play — but everyone’s got different reasons as to why they find themselves in a so-called ‘bomb squad’.

“It happened to me because I couldn’t find a solution during that summer window which fitted in with what Newcastle also wanted.

“But I had constant contact with Eddie and was given nothing but support.”

Hayden made 187 appearances for Newcastle, won the Championship title in 2017 and had five seasons playing in the Premier League. 

But a knee injury in December 2021 sidelined him for 5½ months and Howe later told him he was surplus to requirements.

Hayden said: “By the time I’d come back, they had signed Bruno Guimaraes, and Joelinton was playing as a No 8 — so there was no space.

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“And the team had been transformed from one fighting relegation to having top-six form.

“Eddie was honest and said he had five players in front of me. You think to yourself, ‘I know where I stand’. I’d rather  that than the manager not talking to me.

“You hear people talk about bomb squads where they isolate you, and that’s horrible — but Eddie and Newcastle didn’t do that.

“We had the conversation as to why he couldn’t name me in the 25-man squad.

“And it’s not as simple as, ‘Why not let him train with the first team?’. If you’re doing an 11 v 11 game and everyone’s fit, you’re not going to be able to train with the group because there are too many players.

So Eddie’s solution for me to train with the Under-23s was better. It meant I could train normally every day — and not by myself.”

Hayden actually embraced that period and even did some coaching.

He said: “The bottom line is you’re getting paid good money by the club as a professional footballer. So you give 100 per cent to them in whatever role you’re in.”

After spending the second half of last season on loan with Portsmouth, Hayden joined QPR permanently in the summer.

And now he is hoping to play for Jamaica at next summer’s World Cup.

He said: “One of the huge blessings to come out of that period was I was able to go to Jamaica for a few days to sort my  passport out so I could play for them.

“Had I been playing first-team football every week I’d have not been able to.

“Now I have a chance of making the World Cup. It goes to show you can make everything work out in the end.”

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Sherratt’s departure was confirmed on Monday, just six days before the URC opener against Lions.

Adams is confident that the loss of the head coach will not hit Cardiff’s hopes of improving on last season.

“He made a conscious effort to improve our training days and habits,” said Adams.

“It takes a while to break a bad habit and create a new one. What he has implemented is here to stay and there is a great group of senior players who hold everybody accountable to those standards.

“The foundations that he has laid are solid and I wouldn’t say that any hard work will be undone because he has moved on.”

Adams says forwards coach Van Zyl has stepped in “seamlessly” as Cardiff hunt a successful first block of the URC in which they face Lions, Connacht and Edinburgh at home and Munster and Dragons away.

They open up against a Lions side who finished 11th last season and were runners-up in South Africa’s Currie Cup.

“The Lions are a team that graft hard for each other, that’s evident when you watch them,” said Adams.

“They don’t have the superstars of the South African franchises but they are a tough side and we will have to be close to our best to get something from the game.”

Tom Brady was shown sitting in the Las Vegas Raiders coaching booth while wearing a headset during the team’s “Monday Night Football” game against the Chargers at Allegiant Stadium.

Brady is a minority owner of the Raiders. He also works as a booth analyst for NFL games broadcast on Fox, and the NFL has placed certain restrictions on him to prevent any conflicts of interest concerning his dual roles.

Yet the phrase “conflict of interest” has come up quite a bit on social media — go ahead, search it on X (formerly Twitter) — regarding the optics of an NFL broadcaster hanging out with Raiders coaches and apparently communicating with others in the organization through a headset,

The NFL said Tuesday, however, that Brady doesn’t appear to have done anything wrong.

“There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game. Brady was sitting in the booth in his capacity as a limited partner,” NFL chief spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement emailed to The Times. “All personnel sitting in the booth must abide by policies that prohibit the use of electronic devices other than league-issued equipment such as a Microsoft Surface Tablet for the Sideline Viewing System.”

Also during the Raiders’ 20-9 loss to the Chargers, ESPN’s Peter Schrager reported that Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly told him that Brady speaks with Kelly multiple times a week to discuss game plans and break down film. Asked about the report after the game, Raiders coach Pete Carroll said it is “not accurate.”

“We have conversations — I talk to Tom, Chip talks to Tom — regularly,” Carroll said. “We have a tremendous asset and we all get along well and we respect each other. And so we just talk about life and football and whatever. … He has great insight and so we’re lucky to have him as an owner.”

During the 2024 season, Brady’s first as both a broadcaster and a team owner, he was not allowed to attend the weekly production meetings during which the Fox crew meets with coaches and players ahead of that week’s game. That restriction was lifted going into this season.

While McCarthy did not specifically answer a question from The Times about Kelly’s reported comment about his talks with Brady, it would appear that the NFL is confident that the restrictions it has in place would prevent Brady from acquiring any information any non-owner wouldn’t be able to gather.

“Tom continues to be prohibited from going to a team facility for practices or production meetings,” McCarthy said in his statement. “He may attend production meetings remotely but may not attend in person at the team facility or hotel. He may also conduct an interview off site with a player like he did last year a couple times, including for the Super Bowl. Of course, as with any production meeting with broadcast teams, it’s up to the club, coach or players to determine what they say in those sessions.”

On the first official day for high school football practice in Southern California, few can say they were more excited than University High quarterback Jeremy Pacheco.

In the second quarter of the first game last season, he sustained a season-ending knee injury. After surgery in October, he went six weeks without walking and had to study from home taking online courses.

After months of rehabbing, he’s been cleared to play in his senior season.

“The energy getting back to play football is next-level,” he said Monday afternoon.

No one really knows how good he is, except for University coach Bryan Robinson, who believes he’s ready to show off a strong arm and strong leadership qualities.

At Eagle Rock, where coach Andy Moran began his 29th season of coaching, the optimism is valid, because Moran has a quarterback in Liam Pasten coming off a season in which he passed for 3,602 yards.

“It’s like Christmas,” Moran said before sending his players to the weight room. “Everyone is excited for that first day.”

Pasten has grown to 6 foot 1 but weighs a slim 145 pounds. Don’t worry about hits.

“I have a good understanding of having to take hits or avoid hits to protect myself,” Pasten said.

Eagle Rock All-City quarterback Liam Pasten is 6 foot 1 and 145 pounds.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Pasten is also known for being one of the best high school barbers. He’s up to giving 40 to 50 haircuts a month.

As for what’s the most popular cuts, Pasten said, “Lower and mid tapers.”

He might have to offer his linemen free haircuts for no sacks as an incentive to protect him at all costs.

The first three days of practices for City Section teams are conditioning days. Then helmets and shoulder pads go on.

Southern Section teams with Week 0 games also began practices on Monday.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders addressed his health issues Monday during a news conference, acknowledging that he’d kept the worst of it a secret, not even informing his sons or his team.

Sanders said he had his bladder removed in May to address a cancerous tumor. His scan looked normal from the vascular side, he said, but a visit to Janet Kukreja, Sanders’ doctor at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, revealed the tumor.

Sanders, 57, opted for a bladder removal and creation of a new bladder to remove the cancer from the organ. He said he was fortunate and urged others not to delay getting medical attention when symptoms occur.

“Let’s stop being ashamed of it,” he said he decided. “Let’s deal with it. Let’s deal with it head on.

“This wasn’t easy. Everyone, get checked out. Because if it wasn’t for me getting tested for something else, they wouldn’t have stumbled upon this. …. This could have been a whole other gathering if I hadn’t. It’s been tough. I think I dropped about 25 pounds.”

He said urinating is, well, different now.

“I can’t pee like I used to pee,” he said. “I depend on Depends, if you know what I mean.”

Sanders said he has returned to coaching, and smiled when he said folks shouldn’t be surprised if they see a portable toilet on the sidelines during games this fall.

Sanders had been absent for several months, and he lauded his coaching staff for picking up the slack and not asking too many questions. He has long had blood circulation issues in his legs that led to the amputation of two toes and several surgeries since 2021.

“Thank God the [coaches] are good enough that I don’t have to babysit,” Sanders said. “They didn’t know. They found out yesterday like the rest of the team. The team that didn’t disclose this to anyone.”

Former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace announced over the weekend that he is now offering one-to-one coaching for fans who want to get ‘fitter’ and ‘stronger’

Former MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace is offering one-to-one coaching after he “transformed” himself by embracing a new healthy lifestyle. He promoted the venture, which he said is priced at £200 a month, just days before the news of his exit from the show.

It was announced last year that Gregg, 60, would be stepping away from the BBC show whilst its production company Banijay UK reviewed historical misconduct complaints, which were said to be from across a range of shows. As reported at the time, he said through a lawyer: “It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.”

Then, earlier today, it was reported that Gregg had been fired from MasterChef after a year-long investigation into the allegations, with 50 people making new claims. He issued a lengthy statement this afternoon in which he claimed that he has been exonerated of “all the serious allegations which made headlines last year” but apologised after saying that he was found “primarily guilty of inappropriate language”.

Just days before the latest developments, Gregg took to Instagram over the weekend to share with his followers that he is offering coaching for people who want to “get fitter and stronger”. He wrote over a video message on Sunday: “One to One Coaching £200 a month.”

Gregg, who lost five stone in his fifties, said in the video itself: “Are you feeling well? Are you feeling energised and healthy? Because if you’re like me and you’re over 50, the chances are you have put a huge amount of effort into your job and looking after your family, and very little focus has gone on you and your wellbeing.”

He continued: “And you could be thinking to yourself ‘I wanna feel healthier. I wanna feel fitter. I’d like to get rid of this belly and look better in my clothes.’ I transformed my life. I’m now fitter at 60 than I was at 30 and let me tell you it’s not about eating salads and it’s not about being in the gym all day.”

Gregg, who has promoted his coaching role previously too, concluded: “What you need is a guide. Somebody to show you. Someone who’s done it. I coach people one-to-one. I help them get fitter and stronger as we get older because it’s important we look after ourselves. If you’d like to talk to me about helping you, leave me a message here.”

The former Celebrity MasterChef host shared in the comments section of the post that his coaching is “not just for over 50s”. And when asked by someone how they could sign up, Gregg told them to direct message him on the platform.

Gregg’s post was uploaded just days before it was reported today that he won’t be returning to the BBC. And he issued a statement this afternoon about an investigation that was launched into allegations previously made against him.

He said that he has been cleared by the Silkin report of the “most serious and sensational accusations” made against him and accused the BBC of “peddling sensationalised gossip masquerading as properly corroborated stories”.

However, he apologised for the inappropriate language which the report found him “primarily guilty” of between 2005 and 2018. He went onto say: “I was hired by the BBC and MasterChef as the cheeky greengrocer. A real person with warmth, character, rough edges and all. For over two decades, that authenticity was part of the brand. Now, in a sanitised world, that same personality is seen as a problem.

“My neurodiversity, now formally diagnosed as autism, was suspected and discussed by colleagues across countless seasons of Master Chef.

“Yet nothing was done to investigate my disability or protect me from what I now realise was a dangerous environment for over twenty years. That failure is now being quietly buried.”

A BBC spokesperson told The Mirror: “Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace. We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published.”

The Mirror understands that Banijay will be releasing the report and that the BBC did not fire Gregg as the corporation does not employ him. He was instead employed by Banijay.

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