A petition has been started to reinstate former Mater Dei High School head coach Frank McManus, who was fired last month after one season and one CIF Southern Section championship.
A 16-year assistant with the program, McManus was promoted to replace program patriarch Bruce Rollison in February 2023.
In his one season on the job, McManus led the Monarchs to a 13-1 record. Mater Dei avenged a regular season loss to rival St. John Bosco in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 semifinals, then pummeled Serra 35-0 in the championship game. Mater Dei finished the season ranked third in the MaxPreps national top 25.
No reason was given for McManus's dismissal in Mater Dei's announcement last month.
“We are saddened to announce Coach McManus’ departure from Mater Dei High School. We wish him the best in his future endeavors,” Mater Dei president Michael Brennan said.
However, local accounts heavily imply that the differences in personality grated on Mater Dei leadership.
Rollison represented Mater Dei a certain way as he built the program into, essentially, a Southern California all-star team over 34 years at the helm. McManus was his polar opposite.
From the Orange County Register:
Rollinson wore a tie at games. A cap facing backwards was often part of McManus’ look on the sidelines.
Rollinson’s postgame comments were measured and slowly delivered. During a TV interview after Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco in the CIF-SS final, McManus yelled “We will lace ‘em up, in the middle of Bristol, and take anyone on,” a reference to Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman that would be crowned as 2023 national champions by MaxPreps.com.
At a 7-on-7 passing tournament Sunday at Beckman High, McManus could be heard swearing at eighth-grade level players on his team.
And SBLive Sports:
McManus may have possessed the 'rah-rah' energy and X's and O's, however, he lacked the finesse to manage a national program that's the front-facing entity of one of the most popular private catholic schools in the country, and the crown jewel of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.
And an Orange County Register column:
Being the head coach at Mater Dei requires much more than winning CIF championships. The off-the-field work, the relationships with alums and boosters, with other school departments and with administration, is essential. McManus was not good enough at it and did not seem like he would ever be good at it.
If that is indeed the case, president Brennan gave no indication after winning the CIF Southern Section title.
“Frank did an outstanding job this year,” Brennan said at the time. “I don’t think we could have asked for anything more from a coach. He grinds it out. He works very long hours, and he really worked hard to continue to help the Mater Dei program become the best version of itself.
I think we did (get it right). Frank is a very special person and we’re very, very grateful to have him as our head coach, and the relationship he has with the kids is a very special relationship because they know that he loves them. … If they step a little out of line, they know that he’s correcting them because he loves them.”
At press time, the petition had 76 of a targeted 100 signatures. Even if the petition reaches that arbitrary milestone, its chances of success are about as likely as a May blizzard in Los Angeles.
"We believe that reinstating Coach Frank will restore faith in the institution's commitment towards nurturing its students both academically and athletically," the petition reads. "We urge you to reconsider this decision for the betterment of our children's futures."
Mater Dei hired former Long Beach Poly head coach Raul Laura late last month. Laura was the head coach at St. Anthony High School in Long Beach, Calif., while Brennan was the president of that school. He won five CIF-SS top division championships as the head coach at Long Beach Poly from 2001-13. Laura was announced April 25 and the petition opened April 28.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.