Sunday, September 23, 2012

UPON FURTHER REVIEW: Behind long-time coach Mike Herrington, Hart football on path to restoring itself as a championship-caliber squad

The Hart High football dynasty has been a blessing and a curse.

When future NFL quarterbacks Kyle Boller and Matt Moore were filling the sky with touchdown passes as Hart won five large-division Southern Section championships from 1998 to 2003, there was nothing better than being associated with the program.

There were huge sell-out crowds and regular appearances on Fox Sports Network/Prime Ticket's "High School Game of the Week."

The Indians played in big venues like Home Depot Center and Anaheim Stadium, and there was a swelling football pride throughout the Santa Clarita Valley.

Hart had two perfect seasons, won 35 consecutive games at one stretch and produced a 65-game Foothill League winning streak.

And in the case of longtime coach Mike Herrington and his brothers, assistants Dean Herrington and Rick Herrington, they had jewelry boxes filled with championship rings.

The Friday Night Lights are etched in the memory of Hart's Connor Wingenroth, a junior multi-purpose back on this year's team who happened to be Hart's ball boy when the Indians won their last section title in 2003.

"I was in second grade, and I can still remember the faces of all my favorite players - Sean Norton, Kevin Ciccone, Dan Howell," Wingenroth said. "I can remember taking pictures with the trophy in 2003. I was super excited and just loved to be around the team."

After not reaching a division final since 2007, the Indians appear

to have the personnel to return to prominence, not only in league, but in the Southern Section's Northern Division, especially after the Marmonte League was moved during the offseason to the Pac-5.

With nearly every key starter back from last year's 8-4 team that lost to champion Westlake in the quarterfinals, including Wingenroth -- who accounted for 25 touchdowns as a sophomore quarterback before switching to running back this season to make room for touted sophomore Brady White -- Hart (3-1) appears to be back in the title picture, ranked No. 2 in the division behind Palmdale (4-0).

"I think this is our year," Wingenroth said.

Creating a curse

For nine years, Hart has been chasing its past.

In 2004, the league winning streak was broken by Valencia, as thousands of opposing fans rushed the field in a purple-and-gold celebration.

In 2005 and '06, Canyon and then-coach Harry Welch, Mike Herrington's bitter rival, re-emerged with a mini-dynasty of their own, including a Div. I state bowl championship victory over vaunted Concord De La Salle in a televised victory for the ages that overshadowed even the best of Hart's long string of significant accomplishments.

In 2007, Hart enjoyed a comeback of its own, but lost to St. Bonaventure in the Northern championship.

The next month, Rick Herrington left for Alemany to join youngest brother Dean, who had bolted after the 2001 season for a college job at Occidental, before eventually taking the head coaching position at Alemany in 2006.

That left Mike Herrington, a fixture since 1989, all by himself in his 20th year, and Hart went 5-6 in 2008, the first losing season in a career that has included six section titles.

The league was no longer about Hart and everyone else. From 2006-09, a different school won the league title each year.

In 2010, Hart did not make the playoffs at all, another first-time indignity in Herrington's career.

Last season, Hart finished fourth in league, but still managed a playoff win.

"We've had a few lean years, but I didn't change my coaching style or anything like that," Herrington said. "It was a situation where unfortunately we didn't have as much talent, but we still have had some good years, we just haven't won a championship."

Putting in the work

John Perkins is among four returning starters on the offensive line, and the senior is hoping to provide the push Hart needs to make it back into the limelight.

After practice, he works out at the gym on his own, always wanting to be bigger, stronger, better.

It's pitch dark by the time Perkins makes his way home on school nights, but that's OK with him. Back in the day, Herrington was a Hart offensive lineman himself, and the coach, who still enjoys lifting weights, has a way of inspiring his young blockers.

"You've got to stay strong," Perkins said. "All the offensive linemen, we strive to be the best. We're all hard workers. We want to stay one step ahead. We may not make the headlines in the newspaper the next morning, but we're completely fine with that."

Hart nearly defeated Tesoro (5-0), ranked No. 3 in the Pac-5, before suffering a 10-7 loss in its season opener. The Indians have rebounded with impressive victories over Kennedy of La Palma, Ridgeview of Bakersfield and Birmingham entering next Friday's game against Santa Monica.

"We've got a lot of young talent and a lot of big hitters on this team," senior receiver/defensive back Austin Murillo said. "This thing is, we have to keep the tradition. That's what Hart is all about, the winning tradition. That's all we want to do -- to work hard, to get better and to win."

On his own

Herrington won't say it, but these days it's much harder for him. His brothers once brought so much stability during the dynasty years, but today there are a lot of new faces on Herrington's staff.

Not only are there no holdovers from the last championship season in 2003, Herrington does not even have any of the same assistants from the 2007 team, except for Larry Fiscus, Hart's loyal equipment manager who has been with Herrington since the beginning.

Always wearing red and black, Herrington is instantly recognizable even though the TV highlights and magazine covers are no longer happening.

The lone soldier in what was once a three-man brotherhood, Herrington is still the master, and his goals have never changed.

Herrington swears his burning desire to win has never subsided, and for forever and a day, his home is at Hart. In the old days, Herrington used to cringe when the word "dynasty" was first brought up. Now we know why.

"I wouldn't say that by no longer winning the championship every season, it has taken its toll," Herrington said. "What has taken its toll is not having the same talent pool. The boundaries changed and our enrollment went down quite a bit, so we just haven't had the talent pool we had before. But our talent pool is back up, and it's showing on the field."

Glory days past and present

Herrington still turns on the TV on Sundays to watch Moore play for the Miami Dolphins. And the coach remains close with Boller, at 31 a retired San Diego millionaire after eight NFL seasons.

"Kyle is all set. He has a baby daughter and another on the way," Herrington said.

So does Herrington miss being the king of local high school football?

"Those glory days, those were good times. It's been a long time," Herrington said. "It was a nice thing to do, of course, but winning a championship is still our goal every year, and we just haven't reached it. As far as no longer coaching with Rick and Dean, you miss it, but it's been more than five years since we coached together, longer with Dean, so that's old news."

It's a new era now at Hart, and a good one. The freshman team went 9-1 and 10-0 over the past two seasons, and this year the JV and freshman teams are both 3-0.

"We're on the rebound," Herrington said. "I like what we're doing at all three levels right now."

Even in the best of times, Herrington preferred never to look ahead.

Other coaches love to use the one-game-at-a-time line, but Herrington mastered it. Then, when Hart was going 5-5 or 5-6, Herrington still found his satisfactions.

"I think the fun part of coaching is solving all the little puzzles to put your best product on the field," Herrington said. "Sometimes it takes a week, sometimes longer, sometimes you never do solve that puzzle. Whether we're winning or losing, I don't think my personality has changed. I'm the same guy, you can ask the faculty, the administration."

No matter what happens, Herrington's teaching goals transcend winning and losing. The trophies have never been more significant than for what they stand for.

"I guess the most important thing, as far as my basic coaching philosophy goes, is I try to give these young men at least some small amount of discipline, and that's something they can take with them their whole lives," Herrington said. "Just to have discipline and focus. That's going to put them on the right track."

Win one for Coach

One thing has changed: Herrington got married last October, moved into a new home and -- gasp! -- now stores away his championship rings instead looking at them every morning on his bedroom dresser.

"They're in a box in the garage," he said with a shrug.

No, Herrington and the Indians are not turning their backs on the past. The dynasty is still a motivating factor, and Hart pride is alive and well in Newhall.

"I think Coach Herrington deserves another title after a couple of down years, and that's what we want, too," Perkins said. "That's why we're putting in the extra effort. All the Hart championship teams of the past, honestly that just fuels us that much more and makes us work that much harder. We want to be like those great Hart teams.

"Ten years from now, we want people to think of us the same way. You can always look back as a reminder and how much better we can be. At Hart, it's about living up to expectations."

Wingenroth feels the same way. The little boy that used to live and breathe Hart football is still inside him, the one that used to jump and down every time Norton threw another magnificent spiral.

"There's a lot of camaraderie, and we're clicking on all cylinders right now," Wingenroth said. "Mike Herrington is an amazing coach, and I think we've got a great shot this year."

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_21606537/behind-long-time-coach-mike-herrington-hart-football?source=rss

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