John Paul hungered to be the boss.
Finally last spring, the longtime football assistant got his chance when he became Center High School's head football coach.
The Cougars won just three games in his first season, but Paul said the program was headed for more success. Participation and enthusiasm increased on a team that started several juniors in 2007 and expects an infusion of talented players advancing from a championship-winning junior varsity.
But April 4, Paul was told he was out, to be replaced by Digol J'Beily, who resigned from the post in 2006 following a turbulent head-coaching tenure. Principal Steve Thiessen told Paul that J'Beily had filed a successful grievance to retake the job.
"It never dawned on me that they would hire back a guy who had quit," Paul said.
Center administrators, though, wanted their coach to be someone who works on campus. Paul is an information technology instructor at Heald College.
"At the end of last season, Mr. Thiessen said his preference would be to have an on-campus coach and that he was hoping to get an open teaching position from the district," Paul said.
Paul understood he had to apply for any teaching position with no guarantee of getting the job, but Thiessen told him "a month or so later" no teaching job was available.
So Paul continued to work with the Center athletes as an off-campus coach.
J'Beily, a Center social studies teacher, said he decided he wanted the coaching job after discussing it with his wife, Tami, during Christmas vacation. He filed his grievance after Thiessen refused to offer him the position.
A committee made up of two Center Unified School District teachers union members and two district administrators upheld J'Beily's grievance and ruled he should again be the coach.
"The ideal is to try to get an on-campus person," said Center assistant superintendent Scott Loehr, a member of the grievance committee. "He requested the position, so bottom line it was awarded to him."
Paul said he is angry about his removal as coach and how J'Beily treated him during the 2007 season. J'Beily, Paul said, did not turn over video equipment until after the season started and had to be ordered by then-principal Bill Newton to give up a weightlifting class – populated by members of the football team – so Paul could teach it.
"He did several actions that hurt the program," Paul said.
J'Beily admitted, "Our relationship was pretty much non-existent."
Paul also said J'Beily wanted back in because the team's fortunes seem promising.
"I think (J'Beily) wants this team because he can see that they are going to be good," Paul said. The Cougars were 3-7 overall, 2-3 in the Capital Valley Conference, and expect a large, talented roster of players in 2008.
Athletic director Bob Eason said charges that J'Beily was uncooperative with Paul "would be an incredible understatement."
Eason said Paul was a positive influence on the program.
"He reached out to virtually every member of the community," Eason said. "He did a lot of things to get people involved, to get the kids committed."
This isn't the first time J'Beily has been involved in a controversy at the school.
The district's board of trustees fired the coach in spring 2005 after leading Center to a 6-4 record and the playoffs the previous season. A recall election called for by J'Beily supporters resulted in removal of trustees Scott Rodowick and Teri Ferguson, who supported the coach's ouster.
After being reinstated and coaching Center in 2005 and 2006, J'Beily resigned.
"The recall and all that took a huge toll on my family," said J'Beily, who was 11-19 in his three seasons as head coach. "I needed to get things smoothed out with my wife and kids (he has daughters ages 8 and 12). I needed more time with them after two years of that ordeal."
His return, though, has engendered mixed response.
"There are some people who have strong feelings both ways," Eason said. "It's 50-50. There's some who are feeling, 'Here we go again – another shake-up.'"
Paul, who with his staff had worked with Center athletes until the first week of this month, said he considered the Center job his "last shot" at running a program. He is 62 years old with nearly 40 years experience as an assistant at schools such as Mira Loma, Natomas and Inderkum.
He said he plans to keep his calendar open on Friday nights this fall to watch his former players.
"They are a super bunch of kids," Paul said. "They are going to be loaded for the next two years. I'm as serious as a heart attack. They can go 10-0."
J'Beily says he isn't the villain. He said his reticence to give up the weight-training class, which he was registered to teach, involved union issues and that he had turned over the video equipment to Thiessen.
He said Paul should direct his anger elsewhere.
"He has a good reason to be upset," J'Beily said. "The athletic department and administration may not have handled it correctly."
Some players and parents agree Paul's heart was in the right place but say J'Beily is a better fit.
"Most of the guys who are going to be on the team this year think there needed to be a change," said linebacker Josh Guild, a junior. "I think there was a lot of conflict. I know I didn't see eye to eye on anything with him. He's really old-school.
"I know coach J'Beily. He's a great guy, and a really good coach."
Rick Firanski, father of junior all-league linebacker Richie Firanski, said he is puzzled by the timing of the change but believes J'Beily is the better option.
"A lot of parents weren't too happy with (Paul's) coaching," Firanski said. "He didn't seem to be into the game offensively at all.
"J'Beily is respected on the campus."
Though hopeful about his team's 2008 prospects, J'Beily remains cautious.
"The potential is there," he said. "We've got 45 kids, so if we keep working hard, good things could happen."
Call The Bee's Bill Paterson, (916) 326-5506.
