There's new leadership across the Southland — 112 new leaders to be exact.

According to EightLaces.org, a website operated by former coach and current high school administrator Chris Fore that tracks prep football jobs in Southern California, there were 112 head coaching vacancies filled this past offseason.

The data covers the CIF Southern, San Diego and LA City Sections.

Here is a list (in alphabetical order) of the most notable new coaches in the CIF Southern Section that will draw the watchful eye of high school football pundits and fans.

NOTABLE NEW COACHES TO WATCH

Alemany, Dennis Keyes

Previous coach: Aaron Huerta
Season opener: vs. Calabasas, Aug. 21

Great hire. After the Warriors went 1-9 in 2025 under Aaron Huerta, who only lasted one season, look for Alemany to be on the rise under Keyes, who was a former standout player at Birmingham Charter and UCLA.

Keyes last head coaching post was at Campbell Hall, where the Vikings had very good teams despite being such a small-school program. The school decided to drop football after the 2023 season. Keyes served as an assistant coach at Chaminade before being hired at Alemany this past December.

Beverly Hills, Jeff Bailey

Previous coach: Hasan Muhammad
Season opener: at Valencia/Placentia, Aug. 21

One of the head scratchers of the offseason, but without question a great hire. Jeff Bailey was at Yorba Linda since 2009 before suddenly taking the job at Beverly Hills, which hasn't had a winning season since 2010.

Once it became public knowledge how much Bailey was making, the move made more sense. According to the documentation presented at a Beverly Hills School District board meeting on Feb. 24, Bailey will earn a salary of $205,656.

Beverly Hills had five winless seasons since 2010 and three one-win seasons. The Normans went 0-9 this past fall. There's a lot of work to be done.

Bishop Montgomery, Oscar McBride

Previous coach: Ed Hodgkiss
Season opener: at Segerstrom, Aug. 21

Bishop Montgomery is starting over with Oscar McBride after last year's debacle with the 'Football Money Man', who admitted to paying players and families $50,000 plus expenses to play high school football.

The program canceled varsity football for 2025 and will restart anew with McBride at the helm, who was very successful at Murrieta Mesa.

JSerra, Hardy Nickerson

Previous coach: Victor Santa Cruz
Season opener: vs. Sierra Canyon, Aug. 21

Another former NFL player will join the fold in Southern California. Nickerson won a CIF State title with Bishop O'Dowd in 2025 before taking the Trinity League job in December. Nickerson is the first Black head coach in the history of the Trinity League.

Nickerson played 16 seasons in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers from 1987 to 2002. He was a two-time All-Pro selection, five-time Pro Bowler and named to the NFL's 1990's All-Decade team.

Long Beach Poly, Travon Patterson

Previous coach: Justin Utupo
Season opener: at Downey, Aug. 21

Patterson will be the first former player to head coach Long Beach Poly since 2013. Patterson was a standout with the Jackrabbits in the early 2000's before graduating in 2006. Long Beach Poly went 5-5 last season and faced some drama that led to the program missing the playoffs for just the second time since 1979.

The school withdrew itself from postseason eligibility after six players were deemed ineligible for providing false information on their transfer paperwork. Former coach Justin Utupo was at the helm for one season.

Oaks Christian, Rudy Carlton

Previous coach: Charlie Collins
Season opener: at Chaminade, Aug. 21

Carlton was the offensive coordinator at JSerra under Victor Santa Cruz. Before his time in the Trinity League, he coached at Azusa Pacific University. He'll take over for longtime coach Charlie Collins, who might've been at Oaks Christian a few seasons too long as things started to turn consistently mediocre for the program.

Many believed Rick and Casey Clausen were going to get the gig, but that's not the direction the Oaks Christian brass went. It could be an uphill climb for Carlton because the Clausens are literally across the street at Westlake High. The Clausen name resonates well in the community and Westlake's tuition cost is much, much less than Oaks'.

Orange Lutheran, Ray Fenton

Previous coach: Rod Sherman
Season opener: vs. Miami Central (FL)

Fenton won the CIF Southern Section Division 2 title with Los Alamitos in 2025 before taking over at O-Lu in March. He was 80-33 during his time at Los Al. He lost top recruit Marcus Fakatou in the offseason to transfer (Sierra Canyon), but received a top transfer in OL Austin Attalah from Cajon.

Fenton had to deal with some scandal in the spring surrounding a female staff member in the program sending inappropriate content to players, but the staffer was removed and the school handled it swiftly.

Servite, Rick Garretson

Previous coach: Chris Reinert
Season opener: at Corona Centennial, Aug. 20

He's back home. Garretson graduated Servite in 1974 and is looking to do something special with the Friars. He comes from Arizona where he built Chander High into a powerhouse, winning back-to-back Open Division state titles in 2019 and 2020.

St. Bernard, Dean Herrington

Previous coach: Charles Mincy
Season opener: at Los Amigos, Aug. 20

Herrington has himself a project. After recent stints at Paraclete and St. Francis, 'the Dean' will essentially start things from the ground up at St. Bernard. The bones for a small, great program are there after resources were put into a new field. But scandal hit the program hard in 2020 and 2021 after then-coach Manny Douglas resigned amid an FBI and IRS investigation.

The Vikings didn't field a team for two seasons, according to MaxPreps.com. But brought things back for the 2024 season.

Los Alamitos, Rudy Schoonmaker

Previous coach: Ray Fenton
Season opener: vs. Inglewood, Aug. 21

Schoonmaker must be a great interview because he'll be at the helm of a third high school football program in the last four years — each stop arguably better than the other — and the most recent being his best post yet.

He was the head coach at Santa Ana High (2023) before taking the job at El Segundo where he's been the last two seasons. Schoonmaker led Santa Ana to a 7-4 campaign in 2023 before going 6-5 and 8-3 at El Segundo, respectively.

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