Football: Grant resigns as Costa Mesa HS coach

A month ago, Wally Grant walked off the football field visibly upset. His Costa Mesa High team’s season ended short of making the playoffs.

Grant talked about the reasons why the Mustangs, in a game with a postseason berth on the line, lost, 40-0, at home to Calvary Chapel. Grant’s team couldn’t stay healthy. He said he was lucky to field a team in the Orange Coast League finale.

Yet, as Grant and his injury-riddled team headed for one of the team rooms at Jim Scott Stadium that night on Nov. 6, he talked about getting the Mustangs ready for next year.

There won’t be a next year for Grant at Costa Mesa. Grant said via text message that he stepped down as coach of the Mustangs on Wednesday, leaving his alma mater after four seasons in charge.

When asked if he left on his own terms, Grant, who was a walk-on coach, did not want to comment. The Mustangs finished 2-8, their worst overall record in nine years, and missed the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs for the second time under Grant.

Grant went 21-21 overall and 13-7 in league. He guided Costa Mesa to a league title in 2013.

“I’m thankful to [former Costa Mesa Principal Phil D’Agostino, who hired me as the head coach in 2011], the school and my assistant coaches for the opportunity and help in rebuilding the program,” Grant said in a text. “I’m proud of the players we were able to help get to four-year universities.

“Finally, I’m proud of my staff and players for helping me [become] only the fourth coach in the 60-plus years of this school to leave with a .500 mark or better. We have shown that you can win at [Costa Mesa].”

The final two seasons during Grant’s stint with the Mustangs featured highs and lows.

A year after Grant led Costa Mesa to an undefeated league crown, the program wound up 2-8 overall and 2-3 in league. Injuries played a big role in Costa Mesa’s second fourth-place finish under Grant in the six-team league.

Grant’s best seasons at Costa Mesa were his first and third. In his debut, the Mustangs finished 8-3 overall, their first eight-win season since 2002. The team posted a 5-0 record in league in Grant’s third year. The last time Costa Mesa went perfect in league was in 2008.

But like the previous four head coaches at Costa Mesa, Grant was unable to win a playoff game. The Mustangs last prevailed in the postseason in 1997 under-then coach Jerry Howell. Since then, the Mustangs have gone winless in 10 playoff appearances.

Costa Mesa had a shot to return to the playoffs this year. All it needed to do was defeat Calvary Chapel, a school Costa Mesa had never lost to in 11 meetings. Down to their third- and fourth-string quarterback, the Mustangs suffered their first setback to Calvary Chapel, costing them the league’s third guaranteed postseason berth.

That would mark the end of Grant’s coaching career at Costa Mesa, where he had been an assistant before becoming a head coach for the first time. From 1992-94, Grant helped then-coach Myron Miller take the Mustangs to the CIF Southern Section Division VIII championship game in 1993, the program’s lone section final appearance. In 2010, Grant returned to Costa Mesa as the defensive coordinator, serving one year under then-coach Jeremy Osso.

“I plan on coaching until I die,” said the 50-year-old Grant, who was the defensive coordinator at Tustin from 1995-05. “I have had several opportunities already offered since my announcement. I will talk things over with my wife and make a decision after the New Year.”

The holiday break is also when Sharon Uhl, Costa Mesa’s athletic director, said that the search for a new football coach would begin.

“We wish Wally the best of luck in his future endeavors,” Uhl said in an email. “We are confident that we will find a good fit for our school and program.”