Coach Brinkley will be back at Newport

Jeff Brinkley says he's returning for his 31st year as Newport Harbor High's football coach.

By David Carrillo PeñalozaAssistant Editor, Fast Break Desk

Nov. 19, 2015 11:38 PM PT

While two of the most successful high school football coaches in Orange County have announced their retirements, Jeff Brinkley, who ranks fifth in career wins in the county, said on Thursday that he plans to return for his 31st season at Newport Harbor next year.

“I will be coaching,” said the 63-year-old Brinkley via text.

After 37 years at Los Alamitos, John Barnes stepped down on Wednesday, a couple of days after Newport Beach resident Dave White said the 2016 season would be his 31st and last in charge of Edison.

Barnes, who coached one year at Magnolia in 1978 before moving on to Los Alamitos, won a total of 321 games, tops in the county and No. 4 in California. Barnes led the Griffins to four CIF Southern Section championships.

White has won 219 games, sharing the No. 6 spot on the county list. He has guided Edison to one section title and three runner-up finishes.

Brinkley has won 237 games in the county, and 266 overall, tying him for No. 17 in the state. Brinkley, who coached in Norwalk for eight years, took over the Sailors in 1986. Since then, he’s taken the Sailors to eight section finals appearances, winning three of them.

In Brinkley’s 30th season at the helm of Newport Harbor, the Sailors went 4-6 overall and 2-3 in the Sunset League, good for fourth place. Newport Harbor failed to qualify for the CIF Southern Section West Valley Division playoffs, missing the postseason for only the seventh time under Brinkley.

White led Edison (7-4, 5-0 in league) to the league title this season and the first round of the playoffs. Barnes’ third-place Griffins (5-6, 3-2) exited the postseason in the opening round as well.

Before the season, Brinkley said he was looking forward to the upcoming $8.5-million renovations to Davidson Field. In August, Brinkley said he wanted to be around for the remodeled Davidson Field, which might be two years away from being ready because of delays.

If Brinkley were still coaching the Sailors in 2017, he would be the longest-tenured coach in the county. With Barnes calling it quits, Brinkley now shares that title with White.