Banning’s Football Coach Fired After One Year

John Hazelton, football coach at Banning High School in Wilmington, was fired Friday after one season with the Pilots. Principal Augustine Herrera said that he no longer wanted a walk-on--someone without a staff teaching position--in charge of the program, which has one of the higher profiles among the state’s high schools.

A successor is expected to be named next week.

Herrera took over as principal this school year after Estela Pena, who had hired Hazelton to replace Chris Ferragamo, retired. Herrera said in a prepared statement that he was “unhappy and uncomfortable with the situation of having non-certificated, walk-on coaches.” Athletic Director Andy Nelson said that Hazelton’s dismissal had nothing to do with the Pilots’ 6-4 record and loss in the first round of the City 4-A playoffs, a disappointing season for a team with a winning tradition.

Hazelton said that he had been shocked by the news. He and Herrera had several conversations regarding certification as a teacher, but, he said, the administration was kept apprised of his plans to complete the accreditation process in the spring.

“If (Herrera) said to me that I needed to get it done by the end of the season, I would have sacrificed some time,” Hazelton said. “But I wasn’t going to allow us to be 3-7 and spend time on myself. That’s how I viewed it.”