TEXLER ALREADY OUT AT EASTLAKE

Jason Texler, who didn’t get a chance to coach a game as head football coach at Eastlake High, is out as Titans coach.

Eastlake Athletic Director Mario Ramirez confirmed Texler is no longer the coach. Because of Sweetwater Union High School District policy, Ramirez could not comment further.

“I’ve been let go,” Texler said Saturday. “I had some run-ins with the administration over COVID protocol, and they felt they needed to go a different direction.”

Ramirez said the school hopes to name a replacement as soon as this week.

The new man will be the fifth head football coach at Eastlake since the start of the 2019 season.

John Mcfadden started 2019 as the head coach, but was placed on leave in September. Paco Silva was named interim coach and led the Titans to a Mesa League championship as the team finished the season 5-6.

Silva was recently appointed head coach at Castle Park.

Drew Westling, who led Hilltop to three straight league championships, was named head coach at Eastlake in the summer, but resigned a few weeks later.

Westling was replaced by Texler, who is a special education teacher at Eastlake, but coached last season as an assistant at Grossmont.

On Thursday, Texler sent an email to his players saying he was going to “meet with the administration to go over protocol” after practice was shut down until after winter break.

Friday, the two sides parted ways.

“The Sweetwater District is much more stringent than other districts with its COVID policies,” Texler said. “I was trying to follow orders while still getting caught up.

“I was trying to get a team ready to play football whenever that might be. But it was conditioning only. When all you do is condition, players look at that as punishment.

“There was some miscommunication, some confrontations. I think they believe I’m combative.”

Texler is 78-59-1 in 12 years as a head coach with stops at El Cajon Valley, Escondido and San Marcos. His 2005 El Cajon team was 11-3 and the 2014 San Marcos club finished 10-2.

He had two nine-win seasons at San Marcos as well as a pair of eight-win seasons.