Saugus coach steps down after three seasons, takes teaching job at Valencia

After leading Saugus High boys basketball to its first winning season in five years, Bill Bedgood confirmed to The Signal on Thursday that he has stepped down as the Centurions head coach.

The move was first reported by KHTS Sports.

Bedgood told The Signal he stepped down because he needed a full-time teaching job in his subject, math.

Before last school year, he left a full-time teaching position at Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks – where he had been the boys hoops head coach from 2005-2012 – so he could sub in the William S. Hart Union High School District.

“I figured that by subbing I could get on campus and show my ability in the classroom, and I would have my ear to the ground, so to speak, if anything came open,” Bedgood said via text message.

A full-time math job didn’t open at Saugus, though, Bedgood said, and he has taken a teaching position at Valencia High.

In 2014, Bedgood, a 1992 Hart

High graduate, took over a Saugus team that had gone 0-10 in Foothill League play the previous season.

He guided the Centurions to three-win league campaigns over his first two years before a breakthrough 2016-17.

Saugus, behind All-SCV Boys Basketball Player of the Year Zach Phipps, won six league games last season to finish third, ending the year 18-10 overall after a second-round playoff loss.

Saugus Athletic Director Jeff Hallman said the coaching vacancy might be posted as soon as Thursday or Friday.

“We have enjoyed having (Bedgood) as our boys basketball coach,” Hallman said via text. “He has been a fine leader and role model for our young men, and we wish him all the best in this next chapter of his life.”