Remembering Coach Stanfield

When Merritt Stanfield passed away on September 19 at the age of 81, Palisades High lost one of its very first teachers and coaches. A celebration of his life was held Sept. 29 in Thousand Oaks and since then several of his former players have e-mailed the Palisadian-Post favorite stories of their longtime mentor. “Merritt joined the PaliHi football program in its second year as an assistant to Head Coach Dick North,” recalls David Card, now a landscape designer living in the Palisades. “We’d lost every game the first year (1961) with only 10th- and 11th-graders, none of whom had probably ever played in high school except myself, who played tackle as a sophomore at University High before transferring. Dick and Merritt were really co-coaches, with Dick drawing up offense and Merritt the defense, or was it the other way around? Dick was conservative while Merritt wanted a wide-open style, but they worked well as a team. Both knew when to kick butt and when to give a pat on the back. We went 3-3-1, including a tie against City powerhouse Gardena in the fog. “Merritt also hired me (then in college) a couple of summers to teach swimming at the pool behind the bike shop on Via de la Paz. He never hired swim team members because they didn’t keep it light and simple, he hired football players and others who could relate to kids and gain their confidence. We always had lots of laughs with Merritt.” Stanfield coached football and track and taught P.E. at Pali for 26 years, after which he went to Italy, where he coached the Milano Seamen for two years before moving on to Scotland to coach the Fife 49’ers. “Boy, it’s hard to believe that Coach Stanfield is gone,” says Jerry Vieau, Class of ’64. “I still remember him coming in after football or track practice when we were working out and he’d get on the rings and do a muscle-up, which is pretty difficult. What a wildman!” Stanfield was a fine athlete in his own right, having run sprints and hurdles at Marshall High. Even when he arrived at Pali in his mid-30s few of his students could beat him in a 50-yard dash. That meant he could not only tell his runners, but show them, how something was done. Palisades historian Roger McGrath (Class of ’65) was struck by how young Stanfield looked’even at 34 he looked like he was in high school. “Until the Parkinson’s started getting him six or seven years ago he still looked far younger than his age,” McGrath says. “I remember Merritt that first year at Palisades–we could’ve suited him up for B football.” Carter Harrington, a fullback for three years (1961-64), remembers the first time he met Stanfield at the Palisades Recreation Center: “It was the summer of 1961 and if you put him in a football uniform he could pass for a high school player. He had us do some drills to show our abilities and demonstrate our speed and agility. It became obvious from the start that I had no speed so Coach Stanfield put me on defense as an outside linebacker. I can remember how we were all afraid of the coach in the beginning, because he would yell at us and show us what we were doing wrong. He was tough and I thought he was going to rip my head off when I made a mistake. Those were my first impressions of him. “Over the next three years, my impression of him changed so much it was hard to believe I ever thought he was a tough, unfeeling drill instructor. Coach Stanfield became my role model, a ‘Big Brother,’ my second father. He was my inspiration for the rest of my life. I’ll never forget his sense of humor and his laugh. As a coach, he got 125 percent effort out of me. He was a warm, funny and caring person. Knowing that he was proud of me made me work so much harder. I could always tell I was doing the right thing when I looked over at the sidelines and he was smiling at me. We became so close that our friendship lasted another 45 years. Because of his conditioning demands, I left Pali in great shape and started for Oregon as a freshman defensive end. I survived 300 missions over Vietnam as a Navy attack pilot, because Coach Stanfield taught me ‘the best offense is a strong defense!’ I’m proud to say I’m a defensive coach now for my 13-year-old son’s football team and we just dedicated a game to Coach Stanfield. We won 20-6 and Merritt can rest knowing that his dreams and values live on through his players.” Rich Wilken, now a local architect and coordinator of the fireworks show every July 4, also has fond memories of his old high school coach: “Having been a charter member of Pali’s first B football team in the fall of 1961, I think I can claim the dubious honor of being one of the first players in school history to receive Coach Stanfield’s ‘motivational’ titles of possessing ‘Hands of Stone’ and being a ‘Useless Tool.’ To this day, I wear these titles fondly.” McGrath, one of the speakers at Stanfield’s memorial service, believes it fortunate that Stanfield coached in the 1960s because his fiery temper might get him in trouble today. “Players on the B team that first season told me about a game-day incident involving starter Denny DeVault, who called in sick for an away game. The team bus stopped at Sunset and La Cruz and a perfectly healthy DeVault could be seen hanging out at the Bay Theater. It was later learned he had a date with a cute girl. Before anyone knew it, Merritt was off the bus and throwing DeVault against the side of the theater. Everyone knew he deserved it. DeVault himself knew he deserved it.” McGrath also recalls letting Stanfield ride his new motorcycle before school: “Excitement was written all over Merritt’s face when I pulled up. He said ‘I got to ride it.’ So I got off, he got on and off he went. I thought he was only going to ride around the parking lot but he disappeared up the hill to El Medio. Next I heard him roaring north towards Sunset. Then I spotted him blasting along Sunset towards the village. When he got back, he said only one word: ‘Bitchin!’ “Recently, I’d lived a few miles from him and we’d go to Westlake High football games together because my daughter was a student there. Merritt would say ‘I wonder why they were in a 3-4–they should’ve been in a 4-3’ or ‘Did you notice they switched from man-to-man to zone?’ Merritt never really quit coaching. Somewhere right now he’s saying, ‘Run the 42 Trap.'”