Morgan Hill
– A month and a half after Live Oak High’s football program was
placed on probation by the Central Coast Section, Acorn head coach
Glen Webb has resigned.
According to LO Principal Nick Boden, Webb submitted his
resignation earlier this week and it was accepted.
Morgan Hill – A month and a half after Live Oak High’s football program was placed on probation by the Central Coast Section, Acorn head coach Glen Webb has resigned.
According to LO Principal Nick Boden, Webb submitted his resignation earlier this week and it was accepted.
Boden said the resignation was effective immediately, and that assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Rick Booth has been hired as Webb’s replacement.
“We’re very pleased to have (Booth) on board,” Boden said. “He certainly brings a wealth of experience to the position, and he’s ready for this. I believe he’s going to do a great job with the program.”
Booth, a longtime football and baseball coach at LO, was the only applicant for the position after Boden sent out a memo announcing Webb’s resignation and the coaching vacancy.
Boden said he is required to offer the position to qualified LO staff first, then open the position to district staff, and finally to outside applicants.
Booth said he is looking forward to the opportunity after years as an assistant.
“I welcome it,” Booth said. “I told my wife, this means instead of just yelling at the defensive guys, I’ll be yelling at everyone.”
Webb will stay on as defensive coordinator under Booth, who said he values the continuity that will offer.
“We’re basically just switching positions,” Booth said. “(Keeping Webb) was important to me because everything’s in place and I don’t want to be a position coach as the head coach. We want the least amount of disruption as possible.”
Booth said all current assistant coaches will also be retained.
Booth, the school district’s independent studies coordinator who also serves as an assistant JV baseball coach, played linebacker at San Jose State in the 1970s before beginning his teaching and coaching career.
Booth served as a graduate assistant at SJSU, then coached at Gunderson and Foothill before being hired at Live Oak in 1979.
Since Webb was named head coach in 2000, Booth had served as assistant head coach four of five seasons. He took the 2003 season off.
Webb said he resigned after being asked to by Boden and that his decision to resign was based on the welfare of LO’s football players. He added that he’s happy for Booth.
“My priority is the service of the student-athletes and I’ll do anything toward that end,” Webb said. “I’m overjoyed for Rick Booth and look forward to working with him as his defensive coordinator. I don’t think we’re going to miss a beat.”
Boden said he couldn’t comment on whether Webb was asked to resign because it is a personnel matter.
But he said that he, Webb and Athletic Director Mark Cummins had just completed a review of the football program on Monday.
LO is scheduled to begin spring practice on May 23.
Webb had been under fire for a letter to the editor printed in the Morgan Hill Times in March which criticized neighboring Sobrato High.
It was that letter that prompted a review by a CCS panel, which ruled that it constituted a recruiting violation and placed the LO football program on probation as a result.
Webb served as an assistant coach under legendary LO coach Norm Dow for more than a decade, then took over as head coach for Mark Kaanapu, who replaced Dow and lasted just two seasons.
In five seasons as head coach, Webb compiled a 15-34-3 record that included two CCS playoff appearances, in his first season and his last as head coach.
Last season, LO broke a 24-game winless streak by going 8-3 overall, taking third place in league and advancing to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
It was Webb’s most successful season as head coach of Live Oak.
