Football: Staying silent at Tesoro

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Once again, the people in charge aren’t returning phone calls or offering specifics in the latest firing of a high school football coach.

This time, it’s Tesoro that has removed its coach, Brian Barnes, replacing him with interim coach John Hall with one game to go.

Messages left for Tesoro’s principal, Dan Burch, have not been returned. Athletic Director Gil Ramirez said late Wednesday he could not comment because it was a personnel matter. The spokesman for the Capistrano Unified School District, Marcus Walton, said Wednesday that the district wouldn’t comment on personnel moves. He said Barnes remains a teacher at Tesoro.

So people can speculate about the reason for a coaching change in the 10th week of the season: Was it parental pressure? Was it this video of El Toro’s kicker getting hit by a Tesoro player? Was it a 1-3 record in the South Coast League?

All I know is that Barnes is well liked by most of his fellow coaches. He did a good job building a program that wasn’t one of the best when he took over in 2007. And if someone asked me if I’d hire Barnes to be a head coach, I’d say yes with no hesitation.

-- Eric Sondheimer