Barnes leaves Estancia, moves on to Tesoro

Estancia High is planning a groundbreaking ceremony for Thursday, but Brian Barnes did some groundbreaking of his own Monday.

Barnes, who coached football for two seasons at Estancia, has left to coach at Tesoro. He said he had intended to stay at Estancia, but the opportunity to coach at a Pac-5 (Division I) program was too good to pass up.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime. It’s my dream,” said Barnes, who was 7-4 this past season and 2-9 in 2005 with the Eagles. “I can’t thank Estancia enough. It’s because of them I had the opportunity.”

Barnes said he still plans to attend Estancia’s groundbreaking ceremony for its new stadium, which is being paid under the Measure F school bond.

“I had truly planned to come back [next season],” said Barnes, who inherits a team that went 1-9 overall, 0-5 in the South Coast League after winning CIF Division IX titles in 2004 and 2005. “For me, this a decision for my family. This is a lifetime decision for me. I want to do what’s best for me and my family.”

Estancia principal Phil D’Agostino realized Barnes, 27, had the potential to move on to a different school. Barnes told the principal last month that there were coaching openings he was interested in. The fact that the news came just days before a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony was heartbreaking, but there was no way around it, D’Agostino said.

“There’s never really a good time to lose a fantastic coach,” D’Agostino said. “Brian has done so much for the school. Whether it was before or after [the groundbreaking ceremony], his loss was going to be deeply felt.”

That loss was felt Monday. Barnes, the son of John Barnes, the longtime Los Alamitos coach, told several players after a workout that he would no longer be their coach. D’Agostino and athletic director Tim Parsel told the entire football team Tuesday that indeed Barnes was leaving.

“I was pretty sad, actually,” said Mike Morley, the starting quarterback who will be a senior in the fall. “He had made it seem he was going to stay for awhile. I didn’t even see that coming.”

Morley, whose first year on the varsity was Barnes’ first year, said he drew close to Barnes.

“He would always have our backs for everything,” Morley said. “We could always count on him for him to be there for us. I liked that he’s a teacher on campus. We saw him there everyday. He became more of a dad or a brother on top of being a coach.”’

Morley, along with teammate Connor McKendry, who will also be a senior in the fall, directed the team’s workout, which included about 30 players, Tuesday.

“We carried on and promised we would work hard like if he was there,” Morley said. “As players, we promised we were going to keep it strong.”

That’s the type of attitude Barnes was hoping to instill when he became the Eagles coach two years ago. He took over for Craig Fertig and became Estancia’s fifth coach in nine years. He quickly set goals for championships, league and ultimately a CIF crown.

The Eagles came close to winning the Orange Coast League this past season. It would have been their first league title in football since 1989 and only the third in school history. But Barnes still led Estancia to its first winning season since 2000.

The Eagles lost in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs, 44-40, to Corona del Mar. The Estancia program is still in search of its first playoff win since 1980.

Now the Eagles are in search for a new coach, most likely one who will be able to connect with the boys.

“Coach Barnes has done so much for me,” McKendry said. “He has taught me so much. I was so sad to hear he was leaving. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked and I was sad because he is one of our friends, too.”