Column: Verbum Dei tries to rise again after suspending football program

If you need someone to get rid of ghosts, you call Ghostbusters. If you need someone to clean up a mess in Catholic education, you call the Jesuits.

Father Travis Russell, a 39-year-old Jesuit priest, is in his third year serving as president of Verbum Dei, the iconic all-boys Catholic high school that opened in Watts in 1962 and was almost shut down for lack of funds in the late 1990s until the Jesuits took over and created a corporate work study program to help each student pay for tuition.

The school has a long, proud history of producing quality athletes, with the 1970s particularly remembered for its powerhouse basketball teams that featured the likes of Raymond Lewis and David Greenwood. Football also has had its share of stars, including Hardy Nickerson, who played 16 seasons in the NFL after graduating in 1983.

So it might have come as a shock to Verbum Dei alumni and community supporters when Russell announced last month the suspension of the football program after four games this season because of safety concerns from lack of players. The team was 0-4 and down to fewer than 19 healthy players.

“We were everybody’s homecoming game,” he said. “We had injuries. Kids were dropping. I, in good faith and with our values, couldn’t put our kids out there.”

Russell was expecting an angry reaction from alumni. Instead, he’s been getting calls from people offering support.

“Hardy Nickerson gave our AD a call. ‘I want to help,’” he said.

The school of more than 300 boys faces a big obstacle — the work study program that students must participate in. Practices are affected, former coach Kevin Smith said. It’s a balancing act that requires patience and persistence.

Russell said he will look for a new coach who understands Verbum Dei’s mission.

“We’re the only school in Los Angeles where the students go to school, work a full-time job and play sports,” he said. “It is hard, but Verbum Dei’s history is always about overcoming adversity.”

Russell, who grew up in rural Oregon and first worked at Verbum Dei when he was 23 and beginning to study to become a priest, is one of those Jesuit-trained leaders who isn’t afraid to be blunt.

“I believe every kid in Los Angeles is born with the same potential but not the same opportunities,” he said.

He said 94% of his students are accepted to college programs. He said the school has eight students at Notre Dame on academic scholarships. Verbum Dei has always attracted students from nearby Nickerson Gardens, the federal housing project. Verbum Dei tries to make it financially feasible for a family of four making $49,000 to allow a son to receive a private education.

He reminds everyone that Verbum Dei made it through the Watts riots of 1965 because students protected the campus from burning. By 2000, enrollment had plunged to 186 students. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles turned to the Jesuits to use a corporate work study program employed at a Chicago high school to subsidize Catholic tuition. It saved the school.

Now Russell is starting a $30-million fundraising campaign to improve the campus facilities. And he’s committed to making sure football rises again.

“I love an underdog and I’m a fighter,” he said.

In regards to the sports program, he said, ‘We have standards we won’t compromise.” That means he’s not participating in this era of Catholic schools taking transfers for sports reasons. Verbum Dei doesn’t accept senior transfers. The school does take transfers for other grades.

“They need to be good in the classroom and have a good behavior record,” he said.

He said there’s no reason Verbum Dei can’t become the “Harvard-Westlake” of South Los Angeles, featuring academics and athletics.

“Verbum Dei’s history has been one of resilience, getting knocked down, getting back up,” he said. “It’s the best-kept secret.”

Now he needs to find a new coach willing to take on a big challenge, starting from scratch.

“We want to rebuild with purpose,” he said.

A national search for a new coach will begin when this football season is completed.