Chino Hills fires first-year head coach

Cronkite let go after five-game season

Chino Hills High football coach Josh Cronkite said Wednesday he was told by school administrators that he is no longer the team’s coach and it’s likely he will also lose his teaching position when the school year is finished.

Cronkite’s firing surprised some of the team’s followers because he just completed his first season as the team’s head coach, and it wasn’t a typical season in any way. After months of high school sports being shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, football was able to play an abbreviated season this spring, lasting just six weeks.

There were no playoffs and the preparation time was extremely limited.

The Huskies lost their season finale against Ayala 42-0 on Friday. They finished 1-4 overall, with the win against Santa Fe and losses to Claremont, Etiwanda and Rancho Cucamonga.

Cronkite said he was disappointed with the decision after being so excited about being named the head coach in January 2020. He took over a program that went 6-6 in 2019.

During that 2019 season, Chino Hills forced out coach Chris Stevens over alleged misconduct, and that led to athletic director Sam Sabbara resigning.

The Huskies promoted assistant coach Jose Espinosa to finish the 2019 season, and the team went 4-2 the rest of the way. A few months later, the school hired Cronkite, who had been the coach at Bloomington High.

Chino Hills athletic director Mykeal Terry didn’t reply Wednesday to an emailed request for a comment about Cronkite’s dismissal.

Cronkite thanked all the Huskies players and the coaching staff for their hard work during the challenging times over the past year.

“This was a dream job for me. I wanted to be here for a long time,” Cronkite said. “It was a tough season on everyone, and we were young and were going to get it right. I just wish I had more time.”

Cronkite had just started holding spring practices with his new team last March when high schools were closed and sports were shut down because of the virus.

For a lot of schools in the area, the main goal this spring was to play a few football games and create special memories for the players. Given the circumstances, Cronkite said, he was surprised the school decided to let him go.

“I wish I could have had a full season,” Cronkite said. “It was expressed to me that it was important that we win now, and I understand that. We all want to win, and I thought we would get there, we were young.

“But, hey, look, this was a tough season for everyone. But I loved my time with the players, the coaching staff and I wish the program nothing but the best.”