Ex-Grossmont coach’s team won ’71 CIF title
Pat coached Grossmont High School to back-toback CIF San Diego Section Division 2A football championship games, winning it all in 1971, died March 1. He was 86.
Roberts, who
“Pat Roberts was not only a coach, he was a mentor to hundreds of kids who played for him,” said Dan Proctor, an offensive lineman on the championship team. “We made it to the stadium two years in a row, and it was a thrill.”
Grossmont lost 13-8 to St. Augustine in the 1970 title game, ruining a perfect season and finishing 11-1.
In 1971, Grossmont ruined Patrick Henry’s run at a perfect season with an 8-7 win in the championship game.
The Foothillers scored with 9:38 left, then opted to go for a two-point conversion — and the lead — rather than kicking to tie.
Quarterback Mike Rundle took the snap, surveyed the defense and found tight end Chuck Norton in the end zone. Like that, Grossmont was in the lead.
Roberts coached the Foothillers from 1968-81, compiling a 75-50-7 record. He returned for a two-year stint in 1996-97, going 2-18. That, however, was in the middle of an eight-year stretch in which Grossmont went 18-64 and had eight straight losing seasons.
“In the ’70s, when things could have gone either way for a lot of kids, Pat Roberts was instrumental in a lot of lives,” Proctor said. “He was a strict disciplinarian, but fair.”
Several of his players went on to coaching careers, including Jim Mann at El Cajon Valley, Granite Hills and El Capitan and Dave Waasted at Granite Hills and El Capitan.
A fan of the Green Bay Packers, Roberts is the reason Grossmont football players have the big “G” on the sides of the helmets. Roberts taught math at Grossmont for 28 years before he retired.
A Navy veteran, he was an Associated Press Honorable Mention Little All-West Coast as an offensive lineman in 1960, playing under coach Don Coryell.
Larry Olson, a running back on Grossmont’s championship team, called Roberts “an offensive genius.”
“Plus, he was a wonderful human being, a man who cared about his players and his family,” Olson added. “I coached with him later, and he was a hard-nosed SOB who we all thought was 60 when he was 30.
“But he taught us all about hard work and never giving up.”
Travis Hitt was Grossmont’s All-CIF linebacker on the championship team. Hitt was San Diego State’s first real star freshman recruit, playing under Claude Gilbert on teams that went 35-7-2 in his four years.
“I was blessed to play under two great men in Pat Roberts and Claude Gilbert,” Hitt said.
“Pat coached the varsity and the freshmen teams at the same time. The freshmen were undefeated, so we learned how to win as babes. I was so fortunate to play for two greats, men of character, and not lose a lot of games in my career.
“Pat was strong, committed. He taught us about hard work, discipline, commitment and teamwork.
“He was incredibly important in my life. Four years with Pat opened the doors to the rest of my life.”
A celebration of life will be held April 2 from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. at the Admiral Baker Clubhouse in San Diego. The family, which includes sons Mike, Randy and Patrick, daughter Cameron, 15 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, request that those planning to attend RSVP at coachrobertsrsvp@yahoo.com.