Charlie TeGantvoort leaves Santa Ana to become Marina’s new varsity football coach

Santa Ana Coach Charlie TeGantvoort is headed to Marina as the new football coach. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).

Marina High School officials on Thursday night named highly-successful Santa Ana High School head football Coach Charlie TeGantvoort as its new varsity football coach.

TeGantvoort, who resigned from Santa Ana on Tuesday, replaces Jeff Turley who resigned after nine seasons as Marina coach. The Vikings had a 1-9 record last season but had some success under Turley, winning the CIF Division 11 title in 2019.

TeGantvoort had a 74-22 record at Santa Ana and led the Saints to four league titles. His squads made the CIF playoffs every year (except for the spring 2021 season when no CIF playoffs were held) and had a winning record each season.

Marina’s Athletic Director and head boys basketball coach Nick Racklin said in a statement Thursday:

“Charlie brings a fresh new outlook to Marina football, with a strong ability to get immediate buy-in from players, staff, and community members.  He is a local guy that has proven he has the knowledge and skill set to win in Orange County, and everyone that he has coached and worked for has loved being around him.”

Marina Principal Dr. Morgan Smith added that “Coach T is the kind of coach that inspires players, teachers, and the community to be all-in and we collectively are part of a football program. I know that our program is destined for greatness and our future will be in great hands.”

Coach TeGantvoort, a Fountain Valley High School graduate who played football there, indicated he is ready for the challenge.

“I am very excited and humbled at the opportunity to lead the Marina Viking football program,” TeGantvoort said in a statement.

“I have lived in this area my entire life. My father, the original “Mr.T,” was a teacher at the local elementary schools for 40 years. He would always bring me to see his past students compete in all sports at Marina High School, especially football. For me to now be the head football coach of the Marina Viking Football Program is something that my entire family is very proud of. I cannot wait to get started and give everything that I have to this football program, entire school, and community.

“We will work as hard as possible together to make sure that all our Viking football players make everyone proud of them through achieving success on the field, in the classroom, in the community, and especially when they leave our campus to become successful adults in college and business. I can not wait to get started and to get working for all that success and more.”

Santa Ana Athletic Director Brian Lillie said that TeGantvoort resigned Tuesday, telling the Saints players of his decision. He said that an interim coach has been named and has not opened up the position.

“Coach T has stepped down as head coach at Santa Ana High to take the head coach position at Marina. Coach Rory Schoonmaker (offensive coordinator) has been named interim head coach,” Lillie said. “We were blessed to have Charlie coaching at Santa Ana for the past nine years and wish him and his family nothing but the best moving forward.”

At Santa Ana, TeGantvoort turned around a program that was 1-49 before he arrived.

In October, TeGantvoort was named the Los Angeles Chargers Orange County coach of the week.

“My favorite part of coaching is watching first-hand the transformation of young kids to young adults,” he told OC Sports Zone after winning the award. “Sometimes it takes all four years, and sometimes it happens in one day.  But seeing them become mature independent resilient young adults before my eyes is definitely one of the best things about coaching.”

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

This past season, he led Santa Ana to an 8-4 overall record. The Saints finished second in the Orange Coast League with a 5-1 record behind Orange and advanced to the CIF Division 10 playoffs, losing to Palmdale 21-14 in the second round in what turned out to be his final game as the Saints coach.

Santa Ana’s last league title under TeGantvoort came in the spring 2021 season, which was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Santa Ana defeated Orange 36-34 to capture the crown.

TeGantvoort informed the Santa Ana players of his decision to resign as head coach on Tuesday, according to one of the players, Ignacio Marin, who was a junior linebacker this past season.

Marin sent a comment to the OC Sports Zone Instagram account on Wednesday and confirmed the coach’s decision with Fernando M. Donado of OC Sports Zone.

“I feel like we lost a key part of what makes Santa Ana football,” Marin said in a text. “We are all looking to keep the Santa Ana tradition going and working hard to reach our goals for the next season.”

TeGantvoort is the second football coach in the district to resign this week. On Tuesday, Glenn Campbell resigned as Saddleback High School football coach.

In addition, Century will have a new coach. Lance Neal was named in December to guide the Centurions program.

There will be two new coaches in the Orange Coast League, which Santa Ana is a part of. Former CdM coach Dan O’Shea was named earlier this month as new coach at St. Margaret’s.

Fernando M. Donado contributed to this story.

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—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com