Aaron Craver not returning as Woodbridge varsity football coach after five seasons

Aaron Craver talks to officials before a game in September at Irvine Stadium. (PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Woodbridge High School officials said Wednesday they are beginning a search for a new head varsity football coach to replace Aaron Craver, who led the program the past five seasons.

Woodbridge released a statement from Principal Linzi Gorzycki. Co-Athletic Director Ryan Brucker said school officials will have no further comment.

“As we reflect on the past football season, we are proud of the dedication and hard work demonstrated by our student-athletes and the support shown by our school community,” the statement read.

“Looking ahead, we will be hiring a new head coach for our football program. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Coach Aaron Craver for his contributions to our football program and thank him for his time.”

Craver, who was a long-time Warriors assistant coach, had been associate head coach for Woodbridge with previous Coach Rick Gibson before becoming head coach. He had a 12-32 record in five seasons with the varsity, including the COVID-abbreviated spring season in 2021.

This past season, the Warriors finished 4-7 overall and 3-2 in the Omicron League, advancing to the CIF Division 12 playoffs under interim coach John Halagan after Craver was suspended following the Woodbridge-Pacifica game.

Craver said he was looking forward to returning to lead the Warriors football program.

“I definitely wanted to be the coach this next year,” Craver told OC Sports Zone Wednesday.

Craver said he has supported Woodbridge’s 4-Vert feeder program which develops young players and said there were some promising young athletes coming up and the “numbers were definitely up and we were looking good.

“It was definitely an attractive place moving forward for the future and I definitely wanted to reap the fruits of my labor but they want to go in a different direction so you have to respect that,” Craver said.

Craver said school officials told him that he was “doing a little bit too much of the work myself and that was pretty much the main critique that I hadn’t recruited enough coaches for the staff. And that was pretty much it. Last year, I was told I was the coach in late May and by the time late May comes, all of the coaches are already signed, they’re pretty much off the board at that time.”

Craver said he has some fond memories working with the football players at Woodbridge.

“…. I love all the kids, I’ve had some great experiences …. and I feel for our guys who had a lot of injuries this year,” he said. “We wanted to send our seniors off with great memories and they got a chance to play in the playoffs but most of our older guys were injured or we had a lot of guys not return this season because of injuries or whatever reasons.

“…. Just having great kids and them putting on the effort on the field and in the weight room and communicating and talking to the kids and telling them stories, those types of things and just enjoying the whole process of coaching young men (stood out).”

Craver was suspended for the last three games of the past regular season and the CIF playoff game after an early ending to the Woodbridge-Pacifica game at Bolsa Grande High. Woodbridge went on to win its next three games under interim coach John Halagan and advanced to the CIF Division 12 playoffs, losing to Palmdale 48-7 in the first round.

It’s not clear exactly what led to the game ending early and OC Sports Zone was unable to provide an account because it did not have a reporter covering the Woodbridge-Pacifica game.

“Aaron Craver was suspended by Woodbridge High School in collaboration with CIF,” Woodbridge Co-Athletic Director Rick Gibson told OC Sports Zone in a statement in a follow-up article on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The suspension was not made by CIF, he added. “The rule has to do with removing a team from the field before a game ends,” Gibson said.

It’s not known how much the suspension had to do with Woodbridge’s decision to search for a new coach.

“I was told it had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Craver said.

As for his version of what happened at that game, Craver said Wednesday:

“I didn’t make the decision to take the kids off early, I just told the referees I was concerned about the safety of the kids, that was my issue and our vice principal said the same thing and she was concerned about that but neither of us said we wanted to stop the game.

“When the Pacifica’s AD came back over to ask to say ‘we’re going to put our JV (players in)’ and one of the officials said ‘game is over.’ And that was it, neither myself nor our vice principal said that we wanted to end the game, we were just talking to the officials about our concerns and we figured there would be a little bit more dialogue …. Officials said, ‘game was over.'”

Craver said he’s looking forward to returning as Woodbridge’s track and field coach and hopes to be back coaching football, too, somewhere.

“I’m definitely going to continue coaching, I want to coach, that’s what I love to do,” he said. “I’m sure I will somewhere.”

It’s not known when Woodbridge will name a replacement for Craver. Parents of the football players were informed of the decision on Wednesday.

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