Hall of Fame: Branon Coluccio (Newport Harbor)

Richard Dunn

Growing up the oldest son of a major league baseball player, Branon

Coluccio understood the term bouncing around at an early age.

“I lived in just about every state when I was little,” said Coluccio,

born in Mesa, Ariz., before spending most of his childhood in a town

outside of Olympia, Wash.

When Bob and Terry Coluccio moved the family to Newport Beach, it was

a bit of a culture shock for Branon, who was about to enter seventh grade

at Ensign Intermediate School.

“It was the first day of school and I had a hockey haircut,” he said.

“I would say it was a pretty harsh transition at first, but I adjusted

relatively quick and I think sports helped out a lot.”

Coluccio and his two younger brothers, Rett and Chad, played many

sports and eventually all graduated from Newport Harbor High.

A three-sport standout at Newport Harbor, Branon Coluccio earned a

football scholarship to Southern Methodist University, where he was later

slowed by injuries after a banner prep career.

An All-Sea View League safety in football and all-league

center/forward in soccer, Coluccio played center field in baseball for

three varsity seasons, mostly with longtime teammates Matt Palaferri,

Chris Carden, Aaron McKown and Brian Rogers.

“The baseball team was very special,” Coluccio said. “There was a

group of about six of us who played together every year since I was 12,

when we moved down there.”

Coluccio, who has lived in Dallas, Texas, since arriving at SMU as a

freshman in the fall of 1992, likes to joke about how he has helped Coach

Jeff Brinkley’s Newport football program to prominence by “leaving.”

Coluccio, however, was a 6-foot-3, 195-pound bone-jarring strong

safety and talented wide receiver. He made all-league on defense his

junior year in 1990 and as a wide receiver his senior year.

“Brinkley was an amazing coach to play for,” said Coluccio, a

three-year letterman. “We did (win), and we went to the (CIF Southern

Section) playoffs every year. But we certainly didn’t dominate like (the

Sailors) have been.”

In 1991, when the Tars finished 7-5 and advanced to the CIF

quarterfinals, Coluccio caught a team-leading 46 passes for 517 yards --

an average of 11.2 yards per catch -- from quarterbacks Mike Ofer and

Greg Williams.

A co-captain and the team’s offensive MVP, Coluccio carried a 3.5

grade-point average and was selected to the GTE/Rams Academic All-Orange

County football team as a senior.

In soccer, Coluccio was also a three-year varsity player, and, as a

junior, helped the Sailors share the CIF 1-A championship with Centennial

of Corona.

“It was a highlight and a lowlight,” Coluccio said of the ’91 soccer

Tars, who finished 16-4-8 under Coach Elias Shehadi and reached the CIF

title game as a third-place team from the Sea View League.

“The highlight was that we had a great run and it was such a great

team, but, at the same time, I can’t tell you how disappointed we were

when we walked away with a (scoreless) tie in the CIF championship game

(at Gahr High). I couldn’t believe it. They wouldn’t let us play it out

(after a second overtime).”

In 1992, Coluccio was moved to sweeper and considered “a very physical

player,” according to Shehadi, as Newport Harbor went 11-8-2 before

losing to Corona in the CIF quarterfinals in sudden-death overtime.

In college, Coluccio arrived at SMU as a strong safety and redshirted

his freshman year, but during spring football he was switched to wide

receiver and dislocated his shoulder in a practice, the beginning of a

downward spiral in terms of a collegiate football career.

“It was a pretty unspectacular career,” said Coluccio, who otherwise

loved his SMU experience and majored in management science in the School

of Engineering.

Coluccio, who turns 28 on Oct. 27, has been a business consultant for

Arthur Andersen in Dallas since graduating from SMU.

The latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame was married

to his wife, Jessica, in September 1999. They have three dogs and no

kids.