JOHN KATOVSICH

Richard Dunn

Moving from Texas to Corona del Mar early in one’s high school years

could be a painful transition. But it didn’t take long for John

Katovsich and his older brother, Todd, to get acclimated to their new

surroundings.

“If it wasn’t for football and the program there at Corona del Mar

High, the move would have been more difficult, but the boys got into

the swing of things very early because football practice starts in

August,” said their father, Dennis, who moved his family to CdM in

the summer of 1986.

That move, however, would greatly alter the Sea Kings’ program. In

fact, longtime CdM equipment manager John Potter once said that CdM

football players didn’t truly understand how to play the game until

the Katovsich brothers arrived on the scene.

“I take that as a huge compliment,” said John Katovsich, the

latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame. “And,

definitely, my brother was a little ahead with the varsity setting

the tone (in the fall of ‘86).

“Basically, we were playing the way we had been taught. We’d had a

ton of experience, having started playing football when we were 7 or

8 years old. Back there in Texas, they teach you how to play football

when you’re 7 and 8. They don’t say, ‘Here’s the wonderful, beautiful

Pacific Ocean of California.’ They say, ‘Here’s football -- go get

it.’ That’s what you do in Texas. That’s how you play with other

kids. It’s a pretty intense thing there, to the point where there

would be 10,000 to 20,000 at high school football games.”

Katovsich (pronounced: Kat-toe-sitch) made a three-year lasting

impact at Corona del Mar, including helping Coach Dave Holland’s Sea

Kings capture their first CIF Southern Section title (Division VI) in

1988, the program’s first of back-to-back championships.

When Katovsich arrived, he found the CdM kids “just living a much

more casual lifestyle” than what he had become accustomed to in Texas

with a higher “intensity level” on the gridiron, while going through

two-a-day practice sessions when temperatures reached triple figures

with 100% humidity.

“Here, guys were surfing between practices,” added Katovsich, who

opened on Coach Bill Cool’s sophomore football team, playing running

back and linebacker, before cracking Holland’s varsity the following

year.

As a junior, Katovsich started at linebacker for the Sea Kings,

who struggled to a 1-5 record, before winning five straight -- four

Sea View League games to win the league title and a first-round CIF

Division VI victory over Troy, 28-7. Katovsich was an all-league

selection that year, while Kurt Ehmann, quarterback Mitch Melbon and

future Super Bowl champion Jeff Thomason starred on the ’87 team.

In Katovsich’s senior year, he enjoyed a banner year at

linebacker, earning CIF Division VI Player of the Year and Orange

County Defensive Player of the Year honors, among other accolades.

“It was a pretty special thing for us and a really fun experience

to go through in high school,” Katovsich said of the Sea Kings’ 1988

CIF championship, which culminated with a 17-7 win over Valencia in

the CIF Division VI Final.

“I was very happy to get that for Coach Holland. He’d been really

working hard with these beach kids. Then they finally came around for

him ... we just got on a roll and wanted to keep it going, sometimes

experimenting with new things to get better.”

CdM finished that season 12-0-2, its only unbeaten season in

history, but the ties against University, 14-14, and Saddleback, 0-0,

were forgettable.

“We played pretty poorly against Saddleback that year,” Katovsich

said. “I think we should’ve won, but I think we got a little

complacent ... Holland was very upset at us in our preparation, and

we read that, so we all shaved our heads that next week in

solidarity. We were telling Coach Holland that we’re all for him and

all for the team. Then, after that, we started playing really well.

“The key to us winning CIF was that we had Ty Price (at

quarterback). He really came on and played extremely well in the

playoffs. It was a good group of people and everybody got along with

everybody and we used that to our success. The (juniors) below us

were very demanding. They didn’t know anything but success. Our group

(from the Class of ‘89) was more of a misfits class of people. The

juniors were really focused. They won two (CIF titles) in a row.”

Katovsich’s collegiate options were limited -- Cal and Colorado

offered scholarships -- but he wound up at Colorado and played four

years. The Buffaloes won three Big Eight Conference titles during

Katovsich’s time in Colorado, and shared one national championship

with Georgia Tech.

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Katovsich, a Colorado linebacker, blew out

his left knee during August training camp in 1991. Katovsich

underwent reconstructive surgery, which included replacing his ACL,

then returned to the field after a lengthy rehabilitation to play

inside linebacker.

These days, Katovsich, 32, operates a business that licenses and

supervises music for film, television and video games. He lives in an

artists’ loft in Downtown Los Angeles.

“We rent a big space. It’s like a big apartment,” Katovsich said.