Call it March Madness in February for the Trinity League.
Just one day after it was announced that Rod Sherman was no longer the football coach at Orange Lutheran, Servite announced on Tuesday that third-year coach Chris Reinert has stepped down. That means there will be three new head coaches in the league this fall, with JSerra already hiring Hardy Nickerson as its new coach.
Five of the six schools have now changed coaches in the last three years, something unusual for a league that supposedly seeks to produce winning programs. Only St. John Bosco and coach Jason Negro have stayed together, with Negro hired in 2010. Santa Margarita, Mater Dei, Servite, JSerra and Orange Lutheran have all made multiple coaching changes.
The movement started when Troy Thomas was ousted at Servite and replaced by Reinert in 2023. Thomas had won two Southern Section Division 1 titles in two stints for the Friars.
Then Bruce Rollinson retired at Mater Dei followng the controversial 2022 season when the school faced a lawsuit and hired a law firm to produce a safety assessment. The president who promised to release the report was replaced. Then Mater Dei hired assistant Frank McManus, who guided the Monarchs to a state title in 2023. He lasted just one season and was replaced by former Long Beach Poly coach Raul Lara in 2024.
Santa Margarita made a coaching change after an alleged hazing incident in 2024. The school hired alumnus and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer, who enjoyed immediate success last season when the Eagles won Division 1 section and Open Division state titles.
JSerra fired former Azusa Pacific coach Victor Santa Cruz last November after three seasons and hired Nickerson, a former NFL player and coach, in December as the new coach. Then came departures this week for Sherman after five years and Reinert.
Head coaches in the Trinity League are paid well, but they’re asked to navigate situations that can easily turn into a crisis, from dealing with boosters, parents, transfers and playing time. And it never stops, with each program trying to top the other and coaches expected to create offseason programs that include working with seventh- and eighth-graders at camps and seven-on-seven competitions.
“People do not understand the pressures and how challenging coaching in this league truly is,” Negro said.
There have been at least 25 head coaching changes in the league over the last two decades. Each school community expects to compete at the highest level and fund-raising for the private schools is helped immensely by a successful program. Coaches who take on the task know that breakthroughs are needed within three to five years or they might be gone.
“It was 100% my decision and something I was thinking about for a while,” Reinert said. “I had an enjoyable experience.”
Reinert said he will look into coaching opportunities at a higher level and will help several Servite assistants in the transition while the school seeks a replacement.
As for Servite’s future, Thomas recently stepped down as defensive coordinator at Edison and would certainly be interested in a third stint at a school he has said he still loves. Until last season, he was the only coach since 2016 to guide a team to the Southern Section Division 1 final (2021) to break up the St. John Bosco-Mater Dei monopoly.
