White reaches final year at Edison
Dave White has been the face of Edison High football for 30 years.
Come Saturday, his head coaching career will come full circle in the same tropical setting in which it all began.
On opening day of the 1986 season, White’s first game as the new football head coach at Edison was a contest in Maui, Hawaii. Coincidentally, the first game of his 31st and final season in charge of the Chargers is Saturday evening in Maui.
Edison will open its 2016 season at 9 p.m. (PT) against Baldwin High. The game comes two years after the teams faced each other in a 2014 season opener.
The thought that his first and last years as a head coach would start on the island of Maui hit White during an interview with the Huntington Beach Independent.
“It’s just now dawning on me,” he said, taken aback at the realization. “That’s pretty incredible. Not a bad way to begin and end my coaching career, is it?”
White, 60, has been in the coaching game a long time — 38 years, overall, all at his alma mater. The Newport Coast resident said he had entertained the idea of retiring a few years back.
“About four years ago, I had made a semi-plan to retire after Garrett graduated,” White said of his youngest son who graduated in June from Edison and is now at Yale. “Last summer, I also made a semi-promise to our current senior class that I would stay with them all the way through this season, and I honored that.
“Once I found out that Garrett was going to Yale and play football back east, I made the decision. We (White and his wife, Lytie who has ‘never missed’ an Edison game) want to go back and watch him play but I couldn’t do all that traveling back and forth across country like that while being head coach.”
A former star athlete at Edison, White became the fourth head coach in school history when he took over the reins from Bill Workman. His first team went 8-3 and reached the 1986 CIF Southern Section playoffs. It would be the start of a coaching career that was to flourish.
In 30 years, his teams have won 13 Sunset League championships (seven outright) and reached the CIF Southern Section playoffs 23 times including seven years running. That postseason streak could stand at 16 years had the Chargers not lost on on a draw to determine which Sunset teams would receive the league’s three automatic playoff berths after a wacky 2008 league season ended in a five-way tie for the title.
On four occasions, White’s teams played in a CIF championship game. His 2001 (Division 1), ’06 (Pac-5 Division) and ’09 (Pac-5 Division) teams finished runner-up to a section title. His 2012 team presented him with his first championship plaque and a trip to the CIF State playoffs by winning the Southwest Division title.
“You know, when I think about all these years, it’s mind-boggling,” he explained. “I used to remember every year, every player, a lot of particulars. Now, I can recall a lot of it but not quite all of it.
“It seems like it was so long ago that I started but at the same time, it also seems like it all went by so fast. There are so many great people that I have had the pleasure to be around, so many games I was a part of, so many highlights. I’m proud of all the kids and coaches who have worked so hard in this program. Some of our former players also have come back to coach on our staff. All of it’s been incredible. Not too many people get the opportunity to coach and teach at the school they attended. It’s pretty special and I’m very lucky and very fortunate.”
Entering the 2016 season, White’s teams have compiled an overall record of 225-117-3. His teams have won or shared 11 of the last 15 Sunset League championships.
Only three of his 30 teams have finished with a sub-.500 season record.
“When you coached against Dave, you knew you’d be facing a team that played very hard and was always very well prepared,” said Eric Lo who for nine years was the head coach at Huntington Beach High through the 2015 season. Lo’s 2013 CIF-SS Southwest Division championship team defeated Edison in the division semifinals which was the Oilers’ first win in the rivalry series in two decades.
“His Edison teams always played hard and you knew you had to be at your best to beat them,” he continued. “When we did beat him that year [2013] in the playoffs, he was great. He obviously was down for his team, but he was excited for me, for our program.
“When I was a young coach coming into the Sunset League, at one of his rival schools, Dave was already well-established in the league and a legend in Orange County. He was just great with me and gave me advice. It was a great relationship and I really appreciated that. He’s just a classy guy. Edison has always played great football here in Huntington, and that’s what you measured yourself against.”
Ties that Bind
White said the seed to coach was planted early.
“I always wanted to coach,” he said. “I loved sports, played football, basketball and baseball in high school. That’s all I knew, and I had that passion. I knew that someday I would go into coaching, but wasn’t sure where that would be.”
During his time at Edison, White played several sports before graduating in the Class of 1974. He quarterbacked the football team and was all-league and the team’s MVP his senior year. He was captain of the basketball team his senior year and was baseball team MVP as a junior and captain as a senior.
“He was a different type of player when he played there,” Workman said of White’s Edison days. “He just had a leadership quality about him, not a rah-rah type, just solid leadership. He was a very good athlete who excelled at several sports and won lots of awards. When he talked to you, it wasn’t like he was a kid, it was more like an adult, and he’d look you in the eye.”
White went on to study and play football for two years at Orange Coast College and quarterbacked the Pirates who in 1975 won the national junior college championship. He then began studies and continued to play football (1976-78) at Oregon State where he earned his degree in physical education in 1979. He later achieved a degree in special education at UC Irvine and his masters in special education from Azusa Pacific University. He was a teacher in the special education department at Edison for 20 years and now teaches physical education.
“I remember seeing him at OCC and asked him what he wanted to do,” Workman said. “He said he was going to Oregon State and also said that he was going to come back over [to Edison] and take over for me. I asked him, jokingly, ‘you are going to wait until I quit, right?’”
White said it was another chance run-in with Workman while at Oregon State that set in motion his return to Edison.
“During my senior year, Bill and his wife were up in Oregon on vacation,” he recalled. “I told him that after graduating from Oregon State I was going to stay there and be a grad assistant. He told me that he could see about getting me a sub [teaching] job and be the head freshman football coach at Edison. I jumped at the chance.
“I was 23 years old and I think that first year [1979] coaching freshman football, I had one assistant. I also helped out with coaching the Edison varsity in the playoffs that year which ended with us winning the CIF [Big Five Conference] championship. It was an amazing year.”
And the start of a coaching career at Edison that included working as a varsity football assistant (1980-85) under Workman where he coached wide receivers and defensive backs and became the defensive coordinator (1982-85).
White also coached other sports at all levels at Edison including baseball, girls’ track, and girls’ basketball where he had two stints with the program. During his first-go round, a seven-year run, his 1987 girls’ basketball team went 31-2 and won a CIF championship.
“I think Bill [Workman] that last year [1985] was ready to move on,” White said. “I was defensive coordinator in that ’85 season and he let me call some plays. I think he was grooming me, preparing me for the job.”
Workman, who took over head coaching duties from Vince Asaro in 1973, guided Edison to seven league championships, back-to-back CIF Big 5 Conference championships in 1979-80, and a co-championship in his final year in 1985.
Workman went on to serve as football head coach at Orange Coast College from 1986 through 2000. He said he attends “four to five” Edison football games every year, as well as every playoff game and can be seen roaming familiar territory during games: along the Edison sideline.
“When he came back [to Edison] to coach, it didn’t matter where you put him, he was able to handle what you gave him,” Workman said. “Dave’s done a great job and was the right guy. He’s just kept going all these years.”
Father-Son Bond
Three of White’s coveted highlights during his head coaching career have been his ability to coach his three sons, Matt (30), Hunter (27) and Garrett (19).
“It’s pretty special to have that opportunity,” he said.
Matt, Hunter and Garrett, all worked the Edison sidelines as ball boys during their youth. In their high school days, Matt was an assistant coach during Hunter’s senior year of football, and Hunter last year was an assistant during Garrett’s final season. All three were all-league and All-CIF players, and like their father, were named the Edison male athlete of the year during their respective senior years.
White, Matt and Hunter all played in the Orange County All-Star Football Game in their senior year. White served as coach of the South team in the 1990 and 2001 games.
Matt White (Class of 2004) was a wide receiver and cornerback and was the Sunset League MVP during his senior year at Edison. He went on to play football at Saddleback College and Sacramento State.
“He always told us that he would not stop coaching until he starts losing his love for the game,” said Matt who coaches prep football and track in Boise, Idaho. “That’s not the case, and far from it. By retiring, he’ll be able to do more things and gets to travel to see Garrett play.
“When I was going into high school and play football, he told me he’d be tough on me, to push me harder so that I would earn it. I wanted to prove myself, as well. It pushed me to do that, just by him saying that. It made me a better player.
“It’s somewhat strange, as I haven’t thought of his retiring until this year. It’s bittersweet. I’ve always look forward every year to walking into the football office, then go to a game. He deserves his retirement. I think he knows a great, young coach can step in now, and do what he was able to do at such a young age.”
Hunter White (Class of 2007) played receiver and outside linebacker at Edison and was co-MVP of the Sunset League.
“When you think of Edison football, you think Dave White,” said Hunter who later played at Boise State where his teams went a combined 50-3 and won the 2009 Fiesta Bowl. “He has such a passion for the game. He loves the game, loves his players. He just loves to coach but I know he’s been mentioning [retiring] a couple of times in the last few years.
“When I played for him, he was tough on me but I expected that. To be able to go on to play in college was really a great experience. After I graduated from Boise, I was able to look back and realize that being able to spend that extra time with my dad during my high school days, was pretty unique and special. I’m really grateful for that.”
Garrett White, whose senior football season at Edison was cut short last fall due to a knee injury in the ninth game of the season, is a freshman wide receiver prepping for his first year at Yale. A wide receiver and defensive back at Edison, he was named the 2015 MVP of the Sunset League.
“Obviously, it’s hard to put into words,” he said of his father’s coaching career. “I’m just really happy for him. He’s done so much and has affected a lot of lives. He’s just done a really great job. He loves the game, loves his job, but I’m glad he’s taking the time for himself. He deserves the time off and now, he’ll be able to see me play. That’s pretty awesome.”
Aloha
White’s first game as Edison’s head coach ended in a 21-0 victory over Maui St. Anthony. He’ll find out late Saturday how his final season will begin.
“All I know is that this last year is going to go by fast,” he said. “I know that last game, when it’s all over, the emotions will hit me. Next spring and summer, though, it will be tough...I’ll probably be going crazy. But, if the new coach wants me to help out in any way, I will.”
