MaxPreps 2013-14 Girls Coach of the Year: Don Norford

Long Beach Poly (Calif.) track and field coach Don Norford had a feeling it was going to be a special meet.

Not because it was his last after 38 years of coaching. But because, well, the Jackrabbits girls appeared a lock to win their 14th California state title and sixth in seven years. 

Poly not only stepped up and met expectation, but they surpassed it. At Buchanan in Clovis the team scored 70 points — the second most in state history — while winning a state-record five events, including two individual and one relay by MaxPreps National Female Athlete of the Year Ariana Washington.

The Oregon-bound Washington recorded nation-leading marks in the 100 meters (11.22 seconds), the 200 (22.96) and anchored Poly's nation-leading 400 relay team (45.19 seconds) as the Jackrabbits won going away.

"It was a special night," the 68-year-old Norford said simply and succinctly.

Maya Perkins, Autumn Wright and Jade Lewis also ran strong legs on the 400 relay win, but the sprinters and Washington were only half the story.

Freshman Kaelin Roberts (52.52) ran the fastest 400 time in the country this year and fastest ever in California by a ninth-grader, and the 4x400 team of Roberts, Hollie Harris, Ebony Crear and Wright ran the best time in the country as well at 3:38.05.

It couldn't have been a better send-off for Norford.

"That's what really made this extra special and why we wanted to do so well," Washington said. "Coach Norford has been such a vital person to so many lives over the years. This was a perfect send-off."

Here's one last send-off.

Norford was voted this week the 2013-14 MaxPreps Girls Team Coach of the Year — the top girls coach of any team, any sport in the country.

He told the Orange County Register that the awards and state titles aren't what he'll miss the most.

"Working with the kids," he said. "I'm still going to be around and helping out, but just not as much. And I don't want to give it a half effort. The kids don't deserve that. … I've just been blessed. I've worked with generations of great kids."

According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Norford, as a track head coach and football assistant, has won 53 section or state titles: 18 state titles, 25 Southern Section titles and 10 football championships. He's coached 45 players who made it to the NFL. He's considered perhaps the most successful coach — in any sport — in California history.

"It's almost hard to appreciate the scale of his legacy while we're this close to it," said Long Beach Press-Telegram Prep Sports Editor Mike Guardabascio. "You're talking about a coach who won double the number of state championships that any other coach in California history owns, despite coaching at an inner-city public school.

"Norford's track teams — and the dozens of NFL players who trained with him in the offseason during his heyday — practiced on a dirt oval on campus. The kids he coached speak of him as a father, a mentor, and sometimes even a savior. While the number of titles he's won is unprecedented (and unlikely to ever be rivaled in California), his greatest impact is in the lives he touched. He quite literally changed the history of the city of Long Beach through his 38 years of service to young kids here."

Longtime national track writer and photographer Kirby Lee has covered and known Norford for more than 20 years and said that his humble nature stands out.

Though very competitive, that nature has rubbed off on all the Poly athletes — elite and otherwise.

"Whenever I have interviewed a Poly athlete, I have never heard any of them use disparaging words for their opponents," Lee said. "They are always thankful for their own success.

"I have seen the positive influence that he has had on his athletes past and present, not only in athletics but life. Don has coached several generations of families during his time at Poly and the tremendous impact that he has made in their lives can't be put into words."

Asked by the Press-Telegram to sum up his career, Norford said: "I'm a humble man. I've tried to be a humble man my whole life. When I look back at what we've accomplished, it's astonishing. The school is known worldwide now. It's an incredible blessing."

Other finalists for the prestigious award:

Dan Rolfes, Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis), basketball: The MaxPreps National Girls Basketball Coach of the Year won his second straight Missouri title and finished second in the final Xcellent 25 National rankings. He's won 368 games in his career.

Leta Andrews, Granbury (Texas), basketball. Her team went only 18-14 but that gave her a remarkable 1,412 wins for a 52-year career, the most of any boys or girls coach in the nation's history. She retired after the season.

Tricia Plummer, Granite Bay (Calif.), volleyball: The MaxPreps Volleyball Coach of the Year went 45-0, won a first state Division I title and won a remarkable 114 of 120 games this season.

Venessa Bernard, Grace Academy (Georgetown, Texas), volleyball: She had cancer surgery just six days before leading her team to a second straight TAPPS state title.

Teresa Borchard, Amador Valley (Pleasanton, Calif.), softball: Led her team to a 27-0 record and mythical national crown.

Past MaxPreps National Girls Team Coach of the Year Winners
2012-13 — Cathy Self-Morgan, Duncanville (Texas), basketball
2011-12 — Curtis Ekmark, St. Mary's (Phoenix), basketball
2010-11 — Joe Lombard, Canyon (Texas), basketball
2009-10 — Stan Benge, Ben Davis (Indianapolis), basketball