Santa Ana High School officials move quickly to name interim football coach

(Photo: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).

Santa Ana High School officials moved quickly to name an interim varsity football coach Thursday when offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rory Schoonmaker was selected.

The announcement was made by Athletic Director Brian Lillie after the resignation of Charlie TeGantvoort, who accepted the head football coaching job at Marina.

“He’s been the offensive coordinator under Charlie, he’s been here the last five or six years,” Lillie said. “He’s a quality coach and he’s been running the offense and doing a great job. He was a quarterback in college, so he knows the game well.”

Schoonmaker was offensive coordinator at Canyon before going to Santa Ana.

Lillie said that Schoonmaker will be a candidate to be named the new coach.

“Absolutely,” Lillie said.

As for the process of finding a new full-time coach, Lillie said, “a lot of it depends on Rory. He lives up in LA and it’s a bit of a drive here, so we have to be able to see if he can commit time-wise.

“I’m kind of hanging it on him right now just to weigh it over and see what he is able to do and willing to do. We also will know in a week’s time from the district what teaching oopportunities we will have for next year. We will have quite a few teaching openings so I’m going to wait to fly this until A, I hear back from Rory and B, we know which positions we have available for next year.”

Lillie said that school officials are committed to a full-time position.

“It makes a huge difference to have a coach on campus instead of a walk-on,” Lillie said.

Lillie said that TeGantvoort talked to him before the holiday break indicating he was considering other options.

“It’s a huge loss obviously for us, he’s been a great guy and a great mentor to the kids and just a good human being all the way around with great character and great leadership. It’s the right move for him for many reasons,” he said.

Lillie said that TeGantvoort, who taught special education at Santa Ana, will teach health at Marina.

Lillie confirmed that TeGantvoort told players at Santa Ana of his decision Tuesday. and said, “they took it well, their chins were up and the exit time, there were a lot of hugs.”

Marina competes in the Big Four League, so TeGantvoort will lead the Vikings against Segerstrom, coached by Joseph Tagaloa next season.

Santa Ana is the second school in the district looking for a head football coach. Glenn Campbell on Tuesday announced his resignation at Saddleback.

RELATED:

Marina High School names new football coach

Glenn Campbell resigns as Saddleback football coach

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