Eagles pushing uphill

Craig Fertig says he is aware of the enormity of the challenge to

return the Estancia High football program to respectability. Jay

Noonan, 1-18 in his two seasons, said the same thing, as did one

infamous Eagle baseball coach, not long before he coached one game

and quit.

Dave Holland, arguably as respected as any football coach in

Newport-Mesa history, who won two CIF Southern Section titles in 20

seasons at the helm of Corona del Mar High, has pushed the Laguna

Beach football boulder uphill for years, but failed to ascend to the

top half of the Pacific Coast League in his seven seasons working

with the players formerly known as Artists.

While such skepticism isn’t meant to stifle the celebratory mood

around the Estancia campus and surrounding community, it is presented

as a dose of perspective.

I’d love to be proved wrong, but I’d be surprised if Fertig’s

Estancia teams break even.

*

Tustin High Coach Myron Miller, a longtime friend who has pledged

to support Fertig anyway he can, is the most recent example of how a

Newport-Mesa football program’s fortunes can be reversed by a dynamic

and talented head coach.

In 1992, Miller inherited a Costa Mesa program that had not won a

playoff game in 12 years, with only one winning season during that

time. The Mustangs were 3-7 in Miller’s first year, but won the

school’s first outright league title and advanced to the CIF Division

VIII title game in 1993, before falling to Trabuco Hills and

finishing 9-3-2.

*

Fertig, 60, a walk-on whose “day job” is doing analysis on USC

football telecasts on Fox Sports Net, said he plans to continue

broadcasting, working his schedule around a commitment to the

Estancia program. And, with the return of USC to super-power status,

combined with Fox Sports Net’s placement below ABC and ESPN in the

pecking order for Trojan broadcasts, his broadcasting opportunities

figure to be few and far between next fall, at least.

Still, if he is scheduled to work a USC road game, anywhere but

the Rose Bowl, his presence at a Friday night Estancia game could

render timely travel for a Saturday afternoon college contest

problematic.

USC radio analyst Paul McDonald occasionally missed his son

Michael’s Friday night Newport Harbor games last fall, because he was

traveling with the Trojans.

Fertig said he will also continue his work on the USC Sports

Magazine show televised weekly on Fox Sports Net. Taping is done

Tuesday mornings, so there should be no conflict with his Estancia

coaching duties.

*

Fertig said his broadcasting efforts have helped keep him around

the game. He noted he has watched more videotape of game action in

preparation for his television work than he did in his previous

coaching tenure. His status as a walk-on, some believe, could also be

a benefit, since he has the option of devoting more time to football

than coaches who teach four classes every school day.

*

Fertig’s presense and background as a talented fund-raiser is

certainly a boon to the drive to have an on-campus football stadium

built, with an estimated price tag approaching $4 million.

“If they have him in any kind of fund-raising mode, they’ll

probably be able to build a whole new school within a year,” said

Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson, who played under Fertig at USC and

has seen him work the room at several USC functions over the years.

“There’s no better spokesman for the game of football.”