NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Palisades Football Coach to Retire at End of Season

Palisades High’s Jack Epstein, who has been coaching football for 21 years, said he will retire as a coach and teacher at the end of the school year.

“This is my final year,” Epstein said. “I will have put in 36 years (as a teacher) in February and that is a long time.”

Epstein, 59, who will be entering his seventh season as Palisades coach, is expected to have his most talented team since 1987. That year, with Perry Klein at quarterback, the Dolphins lost to Franklin, 30-14, in the City Section 3-A Division final.

“Overall, this is probably the best group of players I’ve had since 1987,” Epstein said. “They’re very dedicated and have a great attitude. They’re the reason that I came back for another year.”

Epstein began his coaching career at Hamilton High in 1967, where he stayed for six years before moving to West L.A. College. At Hamilton, Epstein’s best players were Warren Moon, the Houston Oiler quarterback, and former USC and Raider linebacker Rod Martin. Epstein also was Moon’s coach at West L.A. College.

After a two-year sabbatical, Epstein accepted the coaching job at Narbonne in 1977, where he remained as coach for six years. He guided the Gauchos to the City Section 3-A title in 1980. Fullback Bryan Wiley, who later played for UCLA, was his best player at Narbonne.

“I’ve been at schools where it was difficult to win City championships,” Epstein said. “I believe you should coach the players that walk through your school doors.

“Palisades is a great, great high school, but most of the local kids go to private schools.

“In order to win year in and year out, you have to go out and recruit. I don’t recruit major athletes because that’s against the rules.”

Unfortunately, Epstein believes, schools outside the Westside area recruit athletes, which has made it difficult for schools such as Palisades to compete.

For example, Epstein was stunned when Klein, now a quarterback at Cal, transferred before his senior season to play at Carson.

Still, Epstein said his career has been a pleasant one and he enjoys winning, even if it’s only a personal battle against Birmingham, where his brother Chick coaches. The two teams will play a scrimmage before the start of the season.

“I’ve enjoyed my career,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of great kids that I keep in touch with all the time.”

Coming home: Former St. Bernard High quarterback Chris Keldorf gave up his football scholarship to Utah State and has transferred to El Camino College.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Keldorf will not play football this season after breaking a bone in his left (non-throwing) hand, but hopes to play for the Warriors in 1993. Keldorf, who dislocated a thumb in July while practicing for the Los Angeles Prep Senior Bowl, broke the bone in his left hand during a practice in Utah.

Last season, Keldorf completed 82 passes in 168 attempts for 1,059 yards and four touchdowns. He wants to play quarterback in college, but was recruited as defensive end and tight end by Utah State.

“They gave me a two-day tryout at quarterback but evidently I wasn’t good enough,” Keldorf said. “They felt in their system I wouldn’t be playing quarterback for two or three years. I was moved to tight end and played there for 2 1/2 weeks. I didn’t like it so my option was to transfer and play quarterback at El Camino.”

El Camino Coach John Featherstone told Keldorf he would have a chance to start next season at quarterback if he was willing to practice with the team this season. Keldorf lives 20 minutes away in Manhattan Beach.

“Chris told me his dream is to play quarterback and he wants a fair shake before he switches to another position,” Featherstone said. “I told him he would get a chance if he came to play here.”

Keldorf will not have to red-shirt to maintain his four years of eligibility.

Making the cut: Golfer David Bartman of Brentwood, a junior at UC Santa Barbara, had an impressive showing last week in the 92nd U.S. Amateur Championship at Dublin, Ohio.

Bartman shot a 71 and 70 for a three-under par 141 during the 36-hole qualifying round for match play at the Muirfield Village Golf Club course. He was tied for sixth out of the 312 golfers in the field.

Bartman, however, lost to Steve Golliher of Knoxville, Tenn., 5 and 3, Thursday in the first round of match play.

“I was fairly happy with my performance,” Bartman said. “It was hard to lose in match play because I played so well during stroke play. I thought I would go much further.”