He’s Ready for Some Football

A mere six days after the Palisades High football season came to an end in November, defensive coordinator Perry Jones was already thinking of ways to make the Dolphins’ program better. He set up a daily weight room schedule on campus, not knowing, but hoping he would be back with the team in 2010. Not only is he back, now he is running the show. Jones was hired as head varsity football coach on December 18, just before the start of Winter Break, and priority No. 1 is solidifying his staff by the end of this month. He could not be more excited about his first head coaching opportunity. “This program is ready to take the next step and my goal is to create the same ideology for football that academics has,” said Jones, who inherits a team that was 7-22 in three years under Kelly Loftus, who resigned at the end of the 2009 season. “I want to create a culture where excellence is expected. We have a group of kids who don’t know how good they are and my job is to help them realize their potential.” An initial list of more than 50 applicants was narrowed down to 12 candidates who were interviewed for the position. Of those 12, five more were asked back for a second round of interviews. Through it all, Jones was confident that, if he was given a chance, his enthusiasm and passion for the game and his painstaking attention to detail would serve him well in whatever capacity he served. “I know I was up against a lot of worthy candidates, several of whom had more experience than I have,” said Jones, 44, who grew up in Ventura County but spent eight years in Oklahoma before moving back to Southern California and joining Loftus’ staff last year. “One thing that might have factored into [their decision] is that I’m also a P.E. teacher here on campus and I think coaches need to be available to their players.” Russ Howard, the school’s Director of Student Activities, Athletics & Discipline, was hoping to find Loftus’ replacement before Christmas in order to give the new coach enough time to get a conditioning program in place. Thanks to Jones’ proactive nature, that was already being taken care of. “We were not offering a teaching position with it–this was strictly a football job,” Howard said. “I was impressed with the way Perry got those kids motivated and the fact that he has been here working with them all this time might have given him a little bit of an advantage.” One of the candidates Howard said was strongly considered–and certainly the most experienced to apply–was former coach Ron Price, who piloted the Dolphins to a 44-15 record from 1996-2000. Price, however, dropped out of the running before the second round of interviews. “Ron was one of my top choices going in because of what he did previously but he had some tough decisions to make,” Howard added. “I was very disappointed that he pulled out because definitely would’ve been one of the finalists.” Jones played basketball, football and track at Santa Clara High. After graduating he played wide receiver and was a high jumper on the track team at Ventura College. He earned his bachelor’s degree at UNLV after which he and his wife, who is in the Air Force, moved to Midwest City, Oklahoma. He started out as a volunteer coach for the Midwest City High freshman football team in 1992 and eventually worked his way up to varsity receivers’ coach. “That was a great experience because I worked under three different head coaches and that program underwent a complete turnaround, just like we’re doing here,” Jones said. “They take football so seriously over there but the talent here is every bit as good.” One person who believes Jones is the right man for the job is Ray Marsden, who guided the frosh/soph squad to the Western League title last season and also applied for the head varsity job. “Perry is a great guy and a great teacher,” said Marsden, who will continue to head the frosh/soph team as well as take an expanded role with the varsity on Friday nights. “I’m glad I can keep coaching the younger kids to make sure he is fed players who are fundamentally sound.” Asked to describe his coaching style, Jones described himself as “strict but enthusiastic.” He also admitted that he learned a valuable lesson from his predecessor: how to keep the game fun. “The main thing is for the kids to have accountability to each other and to us as coaches,” said Jones, who will also run the track program with Ron Brumel this spring. “What was so great about Coach Loftus was that he took time to smile. He didn’t get so caught up in the Xs and Os that he couldn’t enjoy himself.”