Trinity League football is a rough neighborhood.
Half of the league’s coaches got wiped out within the past two months.
First to go was Victor Santa Cruz at JSerra.
He had experience as a college head coach and is a great people-person. JSerra was 14-18 over his three seasons at the school. The Lions finished 3-7 overall and 0-5 in the Trinity League last season. The team was outscored 402-223, including giving up 257 points in five league games, so Santa Cruz was fired.
Next to go was Rod Sherman at Orange Lutheran.
Sherman was ousted this week. Orange Lutheran was 3-9 overall this past season, including two forfeits that had been wins before it was discovered the Lancers used an ineligible player in those games. The team went 1-4 in the Trinity League.
His five-year record with the Lancers was 33-29 overall and 10-16 in league games, which are good results in the best high school football league in the nation.
Then came the news Tuesday that Chris Reinert had resigned as Servite’s coach. The Friars were 20-16 overall and 4-11 in league during the three-year tenure of Reinert, a guy who loves Servite so much that he has the school crest tattooed on his back. Servite finished the 2025 season 6-5 overall and 2-3 in league.
The grind of what it takes to be competitive in the league and keep athletes and their parents happy wore on him.
A problem for JSerra and Servite is that their football programs have been bleeding transfers, with perhaps more to be shed in coming days and months.
Mater Dei and St. John Bosco were the top transfer destinations. Santa Margarita is the No. 1 destination now.
Santa Margarita made a big splash when it hired Carson Palmer as head coach last winter. Palmer starred at Santa Margarita and went on to win the Heisman Trophy at USC and forged a long and prosperous NFL career. He led the Eagles to Trinity League, CIF Southern Section and CIF State championships in the fall.
Santa Margarita Eagles Head coach Carson Palmer holds up the championship plaque after defeating the Centennial Huskies 42-7 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Friday, November 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
JSerra might be trying to duplicate the formula. It hired ex-NFL star linebacker Hardy Nickerson as its coach. Nickerson coached Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland to a CIF State championship in 2025.
Are there any NFL players headed to Orange Lutheran or Servite?
Probably not. Let’s start by establishing that Alabama high school football coach and part-time pro football quarterback Philip Rivers isn’t coming back to Southern California.
Orange Lutheran candidates could be … and this is in alphabetical order, so don’t get too excited …
Anthony Catalano. He is an assistant head coach at Corona Centennial. He has deep roots at Centennial, having played quarterback there, his brother Dominick just completed a great senior season as the Huskies’ quarterback and sister Giuliana was a basketball star at Centennial. Maybe he waits until longtime head coach Matt Logan moves on and then succeeds Logan?
Ray Fenton. He coached Los Alamitos this past season to the CIF-SS Division 2 championship and has had success elsewhere. Fenton had a happy season in 2025, but he loves a challenge and just might pursue a new one.
Steve Fifita. He was Santa Margarita’s interim coach when the school fired Anthony Rouzier as head coach during the 2024 season and stayed on as defensive coordinator in ‘25. Players love him.
Matt Logan. Centennial’s mega-successful head coach lives in Huntington Beach. He has a great thing going at Centennial – he probably could run for mayor, and win. One day, maybe he is a Trinity League coach, but maybe that day is not coming for a couple of years.
Frank McManus. He was fired as Mater Dei’s football coach after one season, the 2023 season, after many years as an assistant coach there. McManus led the Monarchs to CIF-SS and CIF State titles but he messed up in other categories and was fired. He was hired at Cardinal Newman for the 2025 season, led the team to a league championship and an 11-2 record and maybe lost the rough edges.
Mater Dei coach Frank McManus signals to his team during the Trinity League football game against Servite in Santa Ana on Friday, September 29, 2023. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Troy Thomas. He was Servite’s head coach for two stints. Thomas fired up a moribund Servite football program when he first arrived there in 2005 and led the Friars to league, section and state championships.
Servite might be going after …
Fifita, Logan and Thomas. See previous for details. And, side note, many alums, especially the younger ones, would love to see Thomas return.
Rick Garretson. Garretson was a football star at Servite and later an assistant coach. He coached Chandler High in Arizona to two state championships before retiring at the end of the 2024 season. Garretson is 71.
Frank Mazzotta. He won his eighth CIF-SS championship at La Habra in 2025. Mazzotta can win with any type of team – a defense-first team or a team that runs the ball or a team that throws the ball. He is kind of like Logan, though, in that he has a great thing going so the desire to leave might be zero.
Rod Sherman. He might be on the short list at Servite. Sherman is known as a high-character man who gets along with everyone.
And all of these possible candidates have one thing in common …
They all know what happened to Victor Santa Cruz, Rod Sherman and Chris Reinert.