San Diego's Best Coaches

San Diego County is blessed with some of the best coaches and managers in sports right now, clearly something that has not always been the case. Remember Chuck Long was let go by SDSU less than a year ago. How about Kevin Gilbride of the Chargers? Or recall when SDSU went out and got former Wyoming basketball boss Jim Brandenburg to come here and retire? Those were the bad old days.

These, right now, are good times and payoffs have either arrived or appear to be close. Here now, in order, my list of the best coaches in town.

1. Beth Burns - San Diego State's women's basketball program stagnated when she left for Ohio State in the mid-1990s. Things were so bad when she returned that her first team failed to win a single Mountain West Conference game. Her three seasons since include a regular-season MWC co-championship and two appearances in the post-season tournament final, plus an NCAA Tournament victory. This year's team on Monday cracked the Top 25. Her accomplishments don't appear to be flash-in-the-pan, they have a long-term feel about them.

2. Steve Fisher - The only reason why Fisher is second is because Burns recorded her miracle in less time, though it must be said she didn't have as far to go. Fisher in 1999 inherited arguably the worst major college basketball program in the country at SDSU and he, too, struggled out of the gate. Three years later, he had an NCAA Tournament team and after taking a few more seasons to firm up the foundation, his Aztecs are now hoping to add to a three-year run of 20-win seasons. The current team might be his most talented, though growing pains have already been experienced here early in the 2009-10 campaign.

3. Norv Turner - Let's face it, the man didn't have much talent to work with when he led the Raiders or Redskins (I originally wrote "or University of Illinois," a total goof on my part since it was his brother, Ron, who led the Illini). He has had talent in San Diego and has consistently won with the Chargers. Everyone panics in September and breathes a sigh of relief in November and December. It's a great coach that pulls his squad together every year and gets them ready for showtime. When the playoffs come around, Turner wins. If his GM will ever get him a line, he'll take the Bolts to the Super Bowl.

4. John Carroll - Oceanside High School is aiming for a sixth straight Division II football title. Even the greats, like Herb Meyer of El Camino and John Shacklett of Morse, never accomplished that. He's been to the semifinals 15 years in a row. The thing is, until this year, the Pirates have never been loaded with Division 1 college talent. There was like one guy each year, and another one or two for lower college divisions. His players have been good for the prep level, no doubt, and Carroll has never failed to mold them into a powerful team.

5. Rich Hill - There is absolutely no reason why USD should have one of the nation's better baseball programs year-in and year-out. They didn't for decades. All of a sudden, they do, and the reason is the ultra-intense Hill. He recruits pitching and a bunch of gamers who play the game right and he teaches them how to win. That they tend to fall short in post-season is, I think, more a testament to his coaching than anything else. They don't always have the best players, but they might be coached the best. By the way, while a strong recruiting class was dismantled by the June baseball draft, he's bringing in some power arms and a couple pretty nice local players.

6. Jennifer Petrie - The USD women's volleyball coach is amazingly consistent, with eight NCAA Tournament appearances in her nine seasons (she took a year off on maternity leave) and a run of three-straight West Coast Conference titles only snapped this season. And with a second place finish, there's legitimate hopes for a ninth post-season bid this year.

7. Bud Black - No, the Padres really haven't done much in his three seasons except trade away a lot of their good players, so you can't measure his performance by the number of championships or playoff appearances he's made. On the other hand, there's been no downfall from how Bruce Bochy ran the club and the guy with the large noggin is regarded as one of the best in the major leagues. He, like Bochy, is patient with his talent and tends to get the most out of them by the time the season is done. Just this year, he helped the Friars get to within 12 games of the .500 mark after an absolutely rotten start. Not bad.

8. Seamus McFadden - If you're into longevity, you have it here. The USD men's soccer coach has won more than 300 games in 31 years of coaching. The Toreros won an unexpected WCC title this season before falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They've been post-season regulars and advanced to the NCAA championship game in 1992.

9. Tracy McNair - If he were a businessman, he'd be known as a corporate turnaround artist. He led Crawford High School's football team to an unbeaten season in the earlier part of this decade and they were terrible before he arrived and not so good after he left. He's now at Morse, which has gone through coaches almost annually since Shacklett left. There you go, the Tigers made it back into the playoffs.

10. Sam Blalock - The baseball coach has won more than 700 games between Mt. Carmel and Rancho Bernardo high schools, and won several section championships at each school. The would be 'nuff said, but in so doing sent stars like Eric Chavez, nephew Hank Blalock and Cole Hamels, and a few others, into the major leagues.

This is not a perfect list. You can nitpick at the order and there are probably a few coaches of Olympic sports who deserve to be included. I consider that good news. We are in an era in which we are rich in quality coaching.

---

The Chargers are back in first place. All is well. Uh, Mr. Cromartie, all is well, right?