O’Shea takes over Corona del Mar football

Dan O’Shea and Kevin Hettig will continue to make the 18-mile drive from Trabuco Hills High to coach football at Corona del Mar. All that has changed is their titles at CdM, O’Shea is now the head coach and Hettig is the associate head coach.

The interim co-coaches label is off after the Sea Kings put O’Shea in charge and made Hettig his right-hand man on Monday.

In reality, O’Shea and Hettig see themselves as co-coaches. O’Shea guides the defense and Hettig the offense. The two held those coordinator positions under the previous coach, Scott Meyer, in the past four years. Those seasons marked the best run in CdM’s history, three undefeated Pacific Coast League titles, three CIF Southern Section Southern Division titles and a CIF State Division III title.

During that four-year stretch, the Sea Kings went 50-6 overall and 19-1 in league. In 2013, they became the first team in California to record a 16-0 season. They also won 30 straight games during a three-year span.

O’Shea and Hettig believe CdM can continue the success from the past, even though their leader, Meyer, left for a more high-profile program in Servite two months ago. The defense also lost all 11 starters to graduation.

“We think Corona del Mar is a pretty special place,” said O’Shea, who like Hettig decided to stay at CdM and not join Meyer’s staff at Servite.

“We have one goal for this football program and that’s to make it the best public high school football program in Orange County.”

The challenge for O’Shea and Hettig will be doing it as walk-on coaches. They both teach at Trabuco Hills, and O’Shea said the intent is for CdM to hire him and Hettig as teachers at some point.

O’Shea, a U.S. History teacher, said CdM doesn’t have a teaching job available for him. Meyer taught and coached at CdM, turning the program into one of the best in Orange County.

The Sea Kings’ entire staff, except for Meyer and one assistant, returns. O’Shea and Hettig will rely on Dennis Wilbanks, the offensive line coach, to run things before they make their way to CdM from Trabuco Hills, which is in Mission Viejo. The two said Wilbanks, along with Karif Byrd and Tony Thornton will be there for the players starting their strength and conditioning, as well as speed workouts at 2:15 p.m.

“He’s a senior staff member,” Hettig said, referring to Wilbanks coaching at CdM before Meyer arrived. “He’s a phenomenal asset, not only as a coach, but as a mentor.”

Jaydin Moses said you could say the same thing about O’Shea. The incoming junior tailback raved about O’Shea, 45, who takes over his second program. He was at the helm at Long Beach St. Anthony, his alma mater, in 2003-04, and the team never had a winning season and missed the playoffs each season.

O’Shea said he was in the banking business back then, and as a walk-on coach, he was scrambling to get practices together. Since then, he has served under two well-known coaches, as defensive coordinator for Jason Negro at Trabuco Hills from 2005-09, finishing runner-up in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division twice, and for Meyer from 2011-14, winning three straight Southern Division championships.

Any chance at a four-peat with Meyer ended in the Southwest Division quarterfinals last season with a 28-10 loss at Trabuco Hills. The Mustangs wound up winning the Southwest Division crown, then losing their coach, Tony Henney, to Westlake in February. O’Shea and Hettig said they never applied for the opening at Trabuco Hills, preferring to stay at CdM, which went 10-2 overall and 5-0 in league last season, even though a couple of days after Henney left, Meyer stepped down from CdM to take over at Servite.

Moses said he’s glad O’Shea and Hettig remained with the Sea Kings, seeing the program through during a tough time.

“We were hoping [for them to come back],” said Moses, who in his first start last season rushed 20 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the Sea Kings’ 28-18 win against archrival Newport Harbor in the Battle of the Bay game. “We’re stoked [for the upcoming season].”

When CdM’s players found out that O’Shea was hired as the coach on Monday, Hettig, 33, said, “Let’s get to work. It’s business as usual.”