Estancia fights on with Fertig

Barry Faulkner

Craig Fertig, an assistant coach on two national championship

teams at USC, who was head coach at Oregon State from 1976-79, has

been named to replace Jay Noonan as Estancia High football coach,

Principal Tom Antal announced Monday.

Fertig, 60, known by today’s players as a television analyst for

USC football, has not coached since leaving Oregon State, where his

four-year stint produced an 8-36-1 record. He was a USC assistant

coach from 1965-73 and again in 1975, one year after working as an

assistant for the Portland Storm of the now-defunct World Football

League.

After coaching, Fertig was a West Coast talent scout for the Tampa

Bay Buccaneers and was assistant athletic director at USC from

1983-90. He was also an assistant athletic director for development

at UCI in 1989 and has been broadcasting since 1992. He is also known

as an entertaining banquet speaker.

Fertig, a walk-on, inherits a program that went 1-9 last season, 1-18 the last two years under Noonan, who resigned for personal

reasons in December. The Eagles have made only two trips to the CIF

Southern Section Playoffs since 1989, both first-round losses, and

have not won a playoff game since 1980.

Fertig said he learned of the opening over Christmas dinner from

his daughter-in-law, Lisa Fertig, who teaches special education at

Estancia. Initially, he was contacted by Antal to help generate a

list of candidates.

“But, as I was making the list, I thought to myself, ‘Darn it, I’m

a better football coach than these guys,’ ‘’ Fertig said. “I called

Tom the next day to let him know I was interested in the job and he

said, ‘I was hoping you were going to say that.’ ‘’

Fertig is no stranger to the program’s struggles. A Newport Beach

resident, he regularly attends Orange County high school games and

has seen Estancia play during Noonan’s tenure.

“I felt embarrassed for the kids,” Fertig said of the recent

futility. “Today, I asked some of the kids who will be seniors next

season if they felt embarrassed and they said yes. I told them that’s

why I’m here. I want this to be a program where people say ‘Wow! I

want to be a part of that.’ We want to make something special. At

least they won’t be embarrassed.”

Fertig, known for his sense of humor, said he wants to create a

positive experience for his players.

“I’ve always believed football is a game that should be fun, but

it’s more fun when you win.”

Fertig related four principals he believes should be a foundation

for a program at any level, from youth football to the pros.

“The first thing is desire,” he said. “Football is hard work, so

you have to have desire to be here. If you don’t desire to be here,

then join the band or the choir.

“Second, is concentration. I won’t talk to them all the time, but

when I am speaking, I want their attention. The better they

concentrate, the more they’ll be able to concentrate in the fourth

quarter when they’re tired. That’s the difference between good teams

and bad teams.

“Third, is technique. We want to teach them how to block, tackle,

catch the ball, throw it and run with it.

“Fourth, is conditioning. We want to be the best conditioned

football team around.”

Fertig believes some of the best coaching in football is done on

the high school level and he looks forward to making an impact on

Eagle players.

“A high school coach is like a sculpture,” he said. “A high school

player is like a mound of clay and you can make anything out of it

you want. I talked to one of my former coaches today and he said he

could tell by my voice that I had that old fire back. Besides having

played and coached football, above all else, I’ve been a fan of the

game. I believe every young man deserves to have a great experience

and I want to stick around until this thing gets done. Then, I’ll

ride off into the sunset like John Wayne and sit out on the (Newport)

peninsula.”

Fertig, who coached receivers, running backs, defensive backs and

always quarterbacks at USC, said he will delegate to his assistants,

including newly named offensive coordinator Ernie Bucher and

defensive coordinator Dave Olson, a former head coach at Los Amigos.

Fertig consideres his specialty, however, to be offense.

“I’m a we, us and our guy, so we’ll decide as a group of coaches

what we’ll be doing,” Fertig said. “Once we formulate the game plan,

I want to let my coaches go coach. I’ll be there to oversee

everything and I may whisper something to them from time to time.

I’ve told (prospective assistants) I’ve interviewed that I’m the old

professor. They are working on their doctorate and the players are

working on their bachelor’s degree. I want them all to take what I

give them and use it. We’re going to do some things here that maybe

people in the (Golden West League) haven’t seen before.”

Fertig said specific schemes will be determined by personnel and

he will begin evaluating players immediately.

“The first thing I want is for the players to get stronger,” he

said. “I want to meet with every player individually, at their

leisure, and get to know them. Then, we’ll have to look at them

athletically and in groups of athletes. We want to see who really

wants to play. The cream should rise to the top by the time we’re

into spring practice. I told them I want the best 11 players on the field and that may mean moving someone who played receiver last year

to running back. Whatever we run, I don’t want to overburden the

kids. We’ll keep things simple, but we’ll do them well.”

Fertig said he plans to stick around awhile.

“I won’t make any predictions after just meeting with the players

today,” he said. “I know we have a lot of work to do and it’s going

to be a long, hard process. But when I first took over at Oregon

State, they had been 1-19. I told the (Estancia) kids that if they

stick with me and my coaching staff, we’re going to get something

done.”

He plans to round out his staff in the coming weeks.

Fertig played football at USC from 1962-64, starting at

quarterback as a senior. He capped a 7-3 season in ’64 by throwing a

game-winning touchdown pass to Rod Sherman with 1:33 to play for a

20-17 victory over unbeaten and top-ranked Notre Dame at the

Coliseum.

He was an assistant under John McKay when the Trojans won national

championships in 1967 and ’72.

His best team at Oregon State finished 3-7-1 in 1978, including

wins over UCLA, Washington State and Minnesota, as well as a tie at

Tennessee.