CAVERS FOOTBALL TURNS TO REED

Officials at San Diego High faced a tough task.

How do you replace a head football coach as successful as Charles James, a man who was 42-29 in seven seasons — 39-12 after a 3-17 start — and won a State 5-A championship in 2018?

Looking for person with experience and personality, the Cavers named Syd Reed, 39, as their new head coach.

“We had a number of really qualified applicants,” said Paul Coover, athletic director at San Diego High. “What impressed us about Syd was his diversity of experience. His passion for the game.

“He asked as many questions of us as we did of him. He was serious about this job. That was impressive.”

Reed was 5-5 last season at Mar Vista, his first year as a head coach. The Mariners were 0-3 and 3-7 in two seasons prior to his arrival.

He played fullback and linebacker at Lincoln and San Diego Mesa. And he played five years of semipro football with the San Diego Thunder.

He has worked as a high

school football official, he was an assistant coach at the youth level and he spent four years as an assistant at Clairemont High, three as defensive coordinator.

“This is a huge opportunity,” Reed said. “Coming to San Diego High is a family thing, a community thing.

“I played at Lincoln, but my dad’s family all played at San Diego High, so I’m coming back to the community.”

Reed’s departure, of course, leaves Mar Vista without a coach.

Jessica Neamom, vice principal for athletics at Mar Vista, said the Mariners will post the job by the end of the week with the hopes of naming a replacement for Reed by March.

“I learned a lot at Mar Vista,” said Reed, who replaced Tyler Arciaga there. “I started there in mid-July and we were playing in August. So it was very rushed.

“I’m replacing a great man at San Diego, but I have a program now, I can run a spring and summer program.

“I’m coming in with a plan. We’ll run an offense that best suits our personnel. Defensively, we’ll be aggressive with schemes designed to confuse the offense.”

San Diego was 8-3 last season, its final under James with two of the losses coming to San Diego Section champions — Scripps Ranch and Patrick Henry. James resigned to pursue advanced college degrees.

“We had a lot of excellent candidates,” said San Diego Principal Franny Del Carmen. “We’re excited about this hire.”