The Coaching Carousel: Who's New in '22

Newly hired Francis Parker Head Coach Mason Biddle replaces longtime head coach Jim Tomey

Which schools will have new faces on the sidelines this year? Here's a list of some of the high-profile coaching changes this past summer.

El Camino

New coach: Derick Jones

Previous coach: Tony Tarantino

The skinny: For the first time in over a decade, someone not named Ray Johnson or Tony Tarantino is manning the helm at the Oceanside campus, but they didn't look outside of the Wildcat family. Jones, a standout point guard for the Wildcats, was hired after spending several years as an assistant at Palomar College. The Jones era is off to a hot start, as the Wildcats recently took down San Ysidro for win No. 1.

Francis Parker

New Coach: Mason Biddle

Previous Coach: Jim Tomey

The Skinny: Biddle, an assistant at Carlsbad and director of the Multilevel Basketball program, takes over for the longtime head coach Tomey, who departs after helming the Lancers since 2005. Biddle takes over a program that graduated its five top scorers and every statistical leader.

La Jolla Country Day

New Coach: Mike Ricchiuti (interim)

Previous Coach: DJ Gay

The Skinny: Ricchiuti, Gay's lead assistant, was named as the interim head coach following Gay's departure for LA Windward. The UTC-area private school has announced they will conduct a search for a permanent head coach following the season, but in the meantime, Ricchiuti inherits a team that will contend for the Coastal League title.

Mater Dei Catholic

New Coach: Anthony Tucker (interim)

Previous Coach: Jason Bryant

The Skinny: Tucker will assume the leadership role of the Crusaders program for a year, after Bryant's announcement that he would be taking a year off of coaching just a week before the season. Tucker, who was on Bryant's staff at Patrick Henry, has one of the region's most talented seniors, Sacramento State-bound Kristian Gonzalez.

Del Norte

New Coach: Chris Johnson

Previous Coach: Bob Spahn

The Skinny: Johnson, who served as Santana's coach as one year, takes over for the only coach in the Nighthawks 12-year history. But he has strong ties to the area as he was the JV coach at Rancho Bernardo and runs the D1 Southern California AAU program. He inherits a deep roster and started his tenure with a 30-point drubbing of La Costa Canyon.

Orange Glen

New Coach: Roman Macias

Previous Coach: Chris Featherly

The Skinny: Featherly, the Patriots winningest coach in program history, stepped down this summer, and the Patriots looked for continuity in hiring his longtime assistant, Macias. Macias has a solid trio to build around in seniors MJ Madore and Axel Rivera, and junior transfer DJ Walker.

Army Navy

New coaches: Mike Haas + Raul Tovar (interims)

Previous Coach: Bobby Huggins

The Skinny: Huggins stepped down after leading the program since 2015, and in his absence, Tovar and Haas will lead the program for at least this year. They inherit a young roster that lost its all-everything player, Alexis Marmolejos, to graduation.

Tri-City Christian

New Coach: Darick Jones

Previous Coach: Stan Bickley

The Skinny: Jones, who was previously the assistant coach at Oceanside High, takes over for Bickley, father of one Chad Bickley at SFC, after 15 years as head coach and athletic director at the Vista private school. Jones team is young, but includes some solid talent including freshmen Dre Cleaves and Jeramiah Turner, as well as Oceanside transfers David Turner and Garry Dillard.

Mar Vista

New Coach: Shane Crumrine

Previous Coach: Alton Colter

The Skinny: Colter, who took over for Scott Reed one week before the season began last year, is out after a 5-23 campaign. Enter Crumrine, an assistant coach at Point Loma who previously served as head coach at tiny National University Academy and has been a long-time club coach with the San Diego Sharks.

El Capitan

New Coach: Scott Reed

Previous Coach: Elias Totah

The Skinny: The Vaqueros turned over their head coaching position yet again, after Totah departed after three seasons. Enter Reed, who led a brief renaissance at Mar Vista before stepping down on the eve of the 2021-22 season. He has one of the region's more intriguing unsigned seniors in 6-6 Micah O'Dell.

Escondido

New Coach: Cameron Lee

Previous Coach: Lorenzo Keeler

The Skinny: The Keeler era at Escondido high lasted one year, as he departs to Mount San Jacinto College. Lee will have his hands full, as the Cougars are at the low point of their storied history, though he does have senior Levin Holloway, one of the region's more unheralded senior prospects.

Valley Center

New Coach: Jeff Bickford

Previous Coach: Jon Jones

The Skinny: Bickford, whose previous coaching stops included El Capitan and Crawford, takes over for Jones, who departed after nine years. Bickford returns a number of key players from the Jaguars Division 5 runners up, and looks to make a push for a section title in Year 1.

Mount Miguel

New Coach: Jimmy Hurst

Previous Coach: AJ Stanford (interim); Ryan Meier

The Skinny: After a botched search to replace Meier yielded a coach who was fired from his previous position and was under police investigation, the Matadors turned to Hurst, a longtime teacher and former coach at the school.

Hilltop

New Coach: Louie Zumstein

Previous Coach: Luke Kelley

The Skinny: Kelley, who led the program since 2017, stepped down a couple of weeks before the season. In steps Zumstein, who played for Kelley his first year as coach.

Del Lago Academy

New Coach: Lizardo Reynoso

Previous Coach: Kris Bucu

The Skinny: Bucu, the Firebirds athletic director, stepped aside from coaching hoops, and Reynoso, his coach in waiting, takes over. Reynoso, who was a longtime assistant at Orange Glen, saw his first year get a boost when Patriots forward Laith Titouah transferred in to the charter school campus.