Swearingen out, Smith in at Calipat
CALIPATRIA — There’s been a surprising shakeup in the local high school football coaching ranks: Calipatria High’s Mike Swearingen has resigned, effective as of Tuesday. He has been replaced by Keith Smith Sr., the school announced. Swearingen, a local coaching stalwart and IVCFA Hall of Famer who previously Swearingen ran
the show at Brawley, Imperial, Southwest and IVC, leaves the school after three years at the helm, during which he amassed a 13-19 record and claimed a share of the 2016 Manzanita League crown — the Hornets’ first league title since 2012.
Neither Swearingen, nor school administration offered comment as to what precipitated the break.
His replacement, Smith, was already on hand, having helped Calipatria shepherd its wrestling program into existence last school year and coached the Hornets at the JV level.
Smith, of an era with Swearingen, is perhaps just as well known locally. He starred on the gridiron and on the mat for Brawley in the 1960s and had a lengthy and quite successful stint as the Wildcats’ head wrestling coach in the ’90s and early-2000s, while also helping coach the football at various levels.
His most recent coaching experience, prior to being tapped by the Hornets, was on his son Keith Smith Jr.’s staff at Holtville, where he helped the Vikings to a CIF-SDS Division V title in 2013. He has a reputation as an excellent motivator.
The timing of Swearigen’s exit isn’t ideal, coming as it does just two weeks away from Calipatria’s home opener against the formidable Tri-City Christian Eagles on Aug. 23, but district Superintendent Doug Kline maintained that Smith’s knowledge and familiarity with the program will help mitigate the potential pitfalls of such an abrupt transition, praising the efforts of persons around the program to keep the team moving in the right direction.
“We promoted and experienced coach and we haven’t missed a beat,” said Kline. “We were fortunate not to struggle to find a replacement. … We wanted to make the transition as smooth as possible.”