Coach Steps Aside

Ted Amorosi will not be returning next year as Football Coach.

FOOTBALL: Ted Amorosi, who led Burbank for two seasons, left the program after being told there would be no teaching position for him.
By Jeff Tully
Published: Burbank Leader, Friday, February 27, 2009

BURBANK HIGH — Ted Amorosi, the Burbank High head football coach who guided the team to its first postseason victory in 81 years, said Thursday that he has left the program. Amorosi, whose Bulldogs went 9-13 (6-8 in the Pacific League) during his two-year tenure, said he stepped down after being told by school administrators that the classes he taught at the school wouldn’t be offered to him next fall. “Basically, it was because of the budget and the whole economic downturn,” said Amorosi, whose team placed fourth in league last season after finishing sixth in 2007. “My teaching job wasn’t going to be there, and that was a big part of it It’s just a very sad situation. ”He teaches keyboarding — what used to be called typing — at the school.

Amorosi said he was informed about his situation at the school a week ago. He said he had to step aside not only to give himself an opportunity to seek out another job, but to give Burbank time as well to hire another head football coach. “I have already applied at a couple of places and I have my feelers out,” Amorosi said. “I have to get a job so I can support my family. That is the most important thing for me now, to provide for my family.

”It appears Amorosi will leave Burbank on good terms. School Principal Bruce Osgood said the coach did a fine job running the Bulldogs program.“He helped us build up the program,” Osgood said. “I know it’s tough for the kids because he did lot for them.“We wish Ted the best and we appreciate all that he’s done for the program.”Amorosi said one of the hardest things he had to do was break the news to his players that we wasn’t coming back. He added that he enjoyed his time at Burbank and he was hoping he was going to be able to be at the school for years to come.

“Before a week ago, everything looked great,” he said. “We have nine players coming back next year on offense and seven on defense. I had almost all of my coaches in place and everything. “My plan was to be here for a long time, and maybe spend the next 15 years coaching at Burbank High. But now that’s gone. The only word I can come up with is sad.

”Last season, Burbank (6-6) placed fourth in the Pacific League and pulled off a major upset in the first round of the Southeast Division playoffs, defeating No. 2 Santa Fe, 20-14. It was the Bulldogs first CIF win since 1927.The Bulldogs fell in the second round to West Covina, 49-28. The Bulldogs failed to make the postseason in 2007.

Amorosi came to Burbank after coaching at Glendale High, where he compiled a 3-17 record in a two-year stint. He resigned after the 2005 season in which Glendale went 2-8 and 1-4 in the Pacific League. Amorosi’s hiring at Burbank in May 2007 came nearly six weeks after the school rescinded an offer just hours after hiring Bill Coan to take over the Bulldogs program. After an exhaustive search process to find a coach, the school thought it had its man in Coan. Coan was introduced to the Burbank players as their new coach on March 23, 2007 , and even met with a group of booster club parents on campus. Only hours after embracing Coan as the new Bulldogs coach, the Burbank Unified School District and the school’s administration did an about-face. Something questionable in the coach’s background prompted the district to rescind the job offer. That decision was followed shortly by the official word that Coan would not be hired as the Burbank football coach.The decision was a surprise to many, who thought that Coan had already taken his place at Burbank. Coan’s initial hiring came just 55 days after the school fired coach Greg Sobiech. In his five years, Sobiech compiled a 22-30 record and his teams qualified for the CIF playoffs twice.