Ed Croson likes being a head football coach, but he doesn't particularly care for being the only coach.
Even so, that's where Croson found himself this spring at Lake Balboa Birmingham High School in California.
"We've been pretty good the last few years, and all five of my assistant coaches took better jobs," Croson said. "In the spring we had 138 kids out, and it would just be me out there with them. I'd have the linebackers line up on my right, the wide receivers on the left, and take turns moving my head to either side to make sure they were doing the drills correctly."
Croson won't have that problem next summer. He has been named offensive line coach of the USA Football Junior National Team that will compete in the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Junior World Championship in Canton, Ohio. Now in his ninth season at the school, Croson continues to be driven by watching his players overcome obstacles. In some cases, those players are playing the game of life with the odds stacked against them.
"I could tell you 100 success stories," the affable Croson said. "We deal with inner-city Los Angeles kids. I had a kid start playing for me as a sophomore, and he was in the bottom one percentile nationally in academics. Way down at the bottom. He got things straightened out, graduated, and last year he graduated from San Diego State and was a starting receiver.
"We've got guys who were hardcore gang members. We've had the opportunity to change families, and that's really been the thing that's kept us here. I didn't anticipate staying this long, but it's so gratifying to see kids have success. We know they wouldn't have structure in their lives if not for us. I deal with some horrible life situations and things that kids will never recover from.
"Being able to coach them gives them a chance to feel like they're winners. They might get to make something out of football. That's the attraction."
Birmingham has had a marked success rate during Croson's tenure. Birmingham won CIF Section titles in 2002, '04, '06 and '07. So when the team began the 2008 season with a record of 0-4, folks were wondering what in the world was going on with the two-time defending City Section Championship Division champion.
"For starters, we had 34 seniors graduate," he said. "I really didn't know what I was going to be coaching until we got to practice. It's only been about a month since we've had as much help coaching as we need. It's a difficult, difficult situation for coaches here.
"And we had to replace all 11 starters on defense."
A season-opening 29-28 loss to Los Angeles Garfield was followed by a 31-0 loss to Crespi of Encino in a nationally televised game. Next came a 24-0 shutout loss against Valencia. Finally, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame handed the Patriots a 45-27 setback.
"In years past, we've beaten those teams, but this year it was tough going," said Croson, who estimates his team's makeup to be 1/3 Hispanic, 1/3 African-American and 1/3 Caucasian and Pacific Islander. "It's been tough. We run a sophisticated scheme, and it's not something you can learn early. Traditionally we have not been great early, but we're starting to get it and we're starting to get better."
There's no doubt about that. The Patriots' starting defense has not been scored on since that Game 4 loss, and the team has seen its record improve to 4-4 after wins over Los Angeles Dorsey (44-6), Granada Hills (64-8), El Camino Real of Woodland Hills (56-6) and Cleveland of Reseda (44-6).
Adding to the coaching staff helped alleviate some of the early struggles.
"There are days when we have two or three coaches out there," Croson said. "I'm not good enough to coach four positions and be the head coach. One of the kids has an uncle who played at Georgia Tech in the 1970s and then in the NFL. He's a substitute teacher and comes out a couple of days a week when he's subbing. Some days I'll have four coaches out there with me; some days I have eight. Thursdays, for pre-game, I have three. You do a lot of juggling."
In order to keep kids interested, Croson refers to his "19 starters" on offense.
"Some other schools have 30 or 40 players, but we have 60," Croson said. "We have to keep a lot of kids involved. We find out what he can do, and we use him there. We take advantage of the human resources that we have. We're able to do that, and a lot of our opponents are not."
Croson also is able to do something that many other high school coaches would cherish. He coaches his son, Morey, a senior. Morey, a 6-foot-1, 170-pounder, is the team's starting quarterback. A former running back and defensive back, Morey made the move to varsity during the playoffs of his sophomore year.
"At the time we didn't have a quarterback in his class, so he became the guy," Croson said.
Morey has used an old family connection, and more recently a neighbor, to hone his skills at quarterback. Erik Kramer, who threw for more than 15,000 yards over 13 NFL season, works with Morey.
"I coached [Kramer] at St. Genevieve High School in about 1979. I was the JV coach," Croson said. "He transferred from there and ended up switching positions, but I only knew him as a quarterback. So later I was coaching at Pierce College in Los Angeles when we needed a quarterback, and I contacted him. He [redshirted] his freshman year, so for years he had never played quarterback. It's a great story about a guy never giving up."
Of course, it got better when Kramer, playing in the Canadian Football League, got signed by the Detroit Lions as the No. 3 quarterback behind Andre Ware and Rodney Peete. Both went to the bench with injuries and Kramer stepped in to guide the Lions to eight wins in a row, including two in the playoffs to reach the NFC Championship Game. Some of his records he set later with the Chicago Bears still stand.
Ed hopes to someday share some equally enticing stories about being able to coach his son to yet another CIF title.
"It is fun for me, because Morey played Pop Warner football for five years, and I think I went to three games," Ed said. "Now he's in the car with me when I'm going to work, at every practice, and we come home together. It's something we'll appreciate more as we get older. It's not always easy, but the benefits certainly outweigh the drawbacks."
Playing for his dad means Morey has to take the good with the, er, not-so-good.
"It has its ups and downs," Morey said. "It's really nice at times at school. All the security guards and everyone at school knows who I am. At the same time, if I don't do good in school, it goes right to my dad. On a Monday night when I want to go out with my friends and have to be home by 7 to watch film, that's tough sometimes. Having him as my coach helps to keep myself under control, not goof off, and get good grades. So it's good that way."
Morey could barely stand to walk to the practice field during the team's dismal start to the season.
"There were a lot of times when I just wanted to leave," he said. "We'd go out and get slaughtered and then it would be time for practice, and you think ‘Oh, man, I don't want to practice.' It was hard to get motivated. But it showed me and my teammates how much harder we needed to work. Last year we had everything come so easily. This year, we're not going to win with talent. We've got to outwork teams."
Morey's ability to maintain a positive approach in the face of such trying times is only one of his attributes.
"He corrects my mistakes," Ed said. "I've never had a quarterback who can do as many things as he can do intellectually, with poise, and knowing the system. He makes it easier for me. We can look different every week and we do look different every week with a lot of shotgun formations. He can handle the shifts, snap count. He's a great manager of the game."
Morey split time at quarterback last year with Xavier Johnson. Johnson, who missed the first six games of the season with a broken hand, is a redshirt freshman at Utah State. The duo helped the Patriots to a 13-1 record and ranking as high as No. 15 in the nation by USA Today.
The Patriots didn't take long to come back down to earth in 2008.
"We had three brand new DBs, and lost our first backup corner in the first quarter of the first game," Ed said. "There was nothing we could do. We went for two against Garfield for the win and didn't get it on a controversial call, but we should have never been in that situation."
"We lost the game to Crespi and we were in such a funk that we couldn't perform against Valencia. Finally against Notre Dame, we lost the game but we gained a lot of confidence. We realized we could play with the best teams."
Since then, the Patriots have done things like score four touchdowns on their first six plays from scrimmage, lead 50-0 at halftime and lead 44-0 in the third quarter.
"We've gotten some guys back, and consequently we're starting to play better," Ed said. "We just take whoever comes. It's a lot different teaching in the inner city. But we really feel like we're making an impact. I'm just not sure how long I'll be able to do it. It's very draining. It's not easy work, but it's very gratifying."
Ed also teaches four classes during the day, lines the field, mows the lawn and runs the weight program.
"He works really hard for our team. He'll work 16-17 hours a day and all day on the weekends for our team," Morey said. "He definitely puts it all on the line for our team."
Ed's proudest moment with his son came last season in a playoff game. Johnson was battling injuries and sickness throughout the game, and Morey calmly guided the team under pressure.
"He was like a ping-pong ball going from playing to not playing," Ed said. "Every time I turned around I was telling him to get his helmet. Everything moves slowly on the field for him. He ended up 8-for-10 for 290 yards and five touchdowns in the first half."
DeVon Flournoy is often on the receiving end of those passes. Flournoy, who will play at USC, is another example of Croson scouring the halls for players.
"At lunch one day I was watching the kids play football on the P.E. field, and [Flournoy] was showing off," Ed said. "I said, ‘Hey man, you should come out for football.' He had never played before. He came out as a sophomore, and his first play was a 75-yard touchdown reception. He had four touchdowns in his first six catches. He did some modeling as a kid, and he would say ‘I don't want the other kids to get my uniform dirty by tackling me.'"
Ed will encounter similar Division I recruits who land on the national team, and Morey wouldn't mind making the trek halfway across the country alongside his father as a quarterback for Team USA.
"I would love that opportunity. That would be incredible," Morey said.
Ed's selection to the Team USA staff caught him by surprise.
"I had no idea I would be selected," Croson said. "I'm honored to have the opportunity to work with the other coaches on the staff. Sharing ideas and collaborating with these guys is a big attraction to me. I've coached all-star games, but nothing ever of this magnitude. To work for these guys who are legends is an honor and it's going to be exciting."
He has displayed to his son over the years that bringing passion to the field is paramount to all else.
"I remember playing Little League baseball, and it would be a playoff or championship game," Morey said. "It was a huge thing when my dad could come to my game, and I would always want to do my best. I've known since I can remember that football is a huge thing for him and that he gives it his all."
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.