Hemet High School

PREP NOTEBOOK: Hamilton still struggling to find football coach

Every day, Craig Miller makes the 50-plus mile drive from his home in Menifee to his post as the athletic director at Hamilton High.

For four months, he has been trying to find someone else to do the same ---- specifically, a football coach to take the reins at the 400-student school in Anza ---- and Hemet High's sudden opening isn't helping Miller's search.

"We're going to be behind," Miller said. "The only good thing we've got going is we've got some really good kids. They are coming off a real positive season, going to (the playoffs) for the first time in several years. ... But it's going to be difficult at first."

Really difficult. Really unfortunate, too.

The Bobcats won a section title in 2004 and then endured a winless season a year after longtime coach Mike Schroeder handed the program off to assistant Dennis Gregovich in 2008.

Gregovich won four games the next year and then won seven last year before ending his season with a 56-18 loss to Pasadena Poly in the opening round of the playoffs.

Two months later, Gregovich accepted the head job at Tahquitz High, filling the first post in a game of musical chairs that has played havoc with the Hemet Unified School District's four high school football coaching positions amid more than 80 layoff notices handed out to teachers.

Gregovich left for Tahquitz, which had a full-time position to fill after Schroeder's midseason departure; former West Valley athletic director Tom Wallace took on his school's head coaching job in March after Jason Thornburg resigned; and earlier this month, Matt Georgia suddenly left his post at Hemet High after the completion of spring practices.

None of it has helped the situation at Hamilton, where Miller's initial search was limited to in-district teachers willing to either relocate or make the commute. Miller was even willing to hire an off-campus coach on a stipend, but the spring came and went without a legitimate bite ---- let alone significant practices for the returning Bobcats.

"We're just so far removed from everyone else," said Miller, who has had the football program's "dead" period moved up to June to accommodate the ongoing search. "We put (the opening) in local newspapers and at CIF, and we didn't generate anything at all. Then the price of gas didn't help us at all."

An eleventh-hour reprieve, though, may help both Hamilton and Hemet fill their openings. With the bulk of the layoff notices rescinded, the district has opened both searches outside of the district.

Hemet's Georgia makes family priority - HS GameTime - Inland SoCal

As Matt Georgia confirmed for publication late Saturday night, he has resigned as the Hemet football coach.

He was the Bulldog coach for one year, with the team recording a 1-9 record.

Echoing what many have said before him, Georgia is resigning as coach in order to spend more time with his family. Here's his statement:

"For the past eight years, I have served as a member of the coaching staff of the Hemet High School Football program. In my year as the head coach of the program, I am very proud of the measures that we have taken to nurture a culture of honesty, academic achievement, athletic competition, and community involvement. We have emphasized character, commitment, and compassion, to a program that has a storied history of being a measuring stick for the local community.

This decision was not easy for me. As a husband and a father of two young children (both under the age of two), I feel it is a priority to me that I make time to be a part of their development. In times of discussion with my family, I choose not to have my commitment to extra-curricular activities to have an adverse affect on our growth as a family. I appreciate all of the support of Dr. Shaw in the development of our program and student athletes. I will greatly miss my time spent with some of the greatest kids that one could hope to work with. I would also like to thank the coaching staff for their help. Their commitment to the betterment of our student-athletes only made this decision more difficult.

Ultimately, I am concerned of the impact that this decision has on the kids. I think in the matters of adults, the children are often left victim of our decisions. It is my hope that my decision doesn't have lasting effects on the student athletes that have entrusted me with their passion. I have had the supreme privilege of working with some of the finest young adults that one could hope to know. I wish all of them the best of luck and wish Hemet High School the greatest of successes.

I would like to thank the parents, players, and community members, for taking your personal time to see that our players are provided the very best. This process has not been easy for me. Thank you.

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