COACH OF THE YEAR
Has been on the faculty at Mater Dei for 42 years and the school’s football coach for 29 seasons with an overall record of 287-33-2, winning six CIF Southern Section titles and three top finishes in the final Super 25 rankings. He has coached 55 players who have won all-state honors. He was named the National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year this year. He played football and ran track at Mater Dei and was a defensive back for Southern California. He and wife Laurie have two daughters, Carolina Rollinson Flangan and Catherine Rollinson Pederson, and one grandson, Matthew Flanagan.
Toughest offseason workout: We use a little (blocking) sled on the field. It’s an individual Prowler. When we introduced those during hell week, that made a big difference. We have certain conditioning days that we’ve earmarked, and every position has to spend 10 minutes on the Prowler. It’s sheer torture on them. Our toughest day of training during the season is the day af-
ter the game, and our players are getting used to those.
Favorite game-day rituals: When they were little, my two daughters would draw me pictures or little notes. I still have one of the original notes. It’s a picture of the Mayflower drawn by my youngest daughter, Catherine. All of the people in it are stick figures, except for one that has blond hair. As they grew up, the pictures developed into little notes. I will not read them until I get to the stadium. They are very supportive.
Favorite phone app: The Weather Channel, because I’ve always worried about heat or rain. What motivates me: When you say I can’t do something, I will try to prove you wrong. A while back, there were people saying the game had passed me by, . ... The administration stuck by me and I reinvented myself and blew the program up. This is our third time we’ve made the section finals in the past five years. Fondest memory this season: I would tell you there are so many great plays, so many memories. I think when we beat Bishop Gorman, that’s when I knew they knew they were good. I knew we were going to roll from there on in. I saw how hard we played. It was 92 degrees and the humidity was ridiculous. There were high schools in Orange County that canceled their games. After our guys won, they didn’t go crazy. It was a very businesslike thing. I was thinking, ‘Look at these guys, they know this is just the first part of the whole picture.’ I go back to that moment, how we won that game without one of our superstars (Amon-Ra St. Brown). Guilty TV pleasures: HGTV with my wife, but this time of year she makes me watch the Hallmark Christmas movies. Favorite oldie: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. Favorite current song: I like Happy (by Pharrell Williams). I’d like to come back as: I’ve always said I should have been a rock and roll singer or a truck driver. In 1960 we pulled out of New York to move to California because of my dad’s health, and back then I wanted to be a truck driver. I also say rock and roll singer because I’ve always liked to watch people perform.