Claremont High School Principal Brett O’Connor announced this month that the school had hired veteran defensive coordinator Coco Jarin as the next head varsity football coach. Mr. Jarin, who was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Pack last season, replaces Mike Collins, who led the team for 20 seasons.

“I am blessed to have worked with so many great coaches and mentors over the years,” he said while sitting on a bench outside the CHS weight room on Wednesday afternoon.

Blessed indeed as he was defensive coordinator at Sweetwater High School in the mid-eighties when the team had a 38-game winning streak, while ranked number one in California and number two nationwide.

Good fortune continued when he moved to Mount San Antonio College in 1997, the year the Mounties took their first national title.

Over the years he has coached at the University of La Verne and Claremont McKenna College and served as the freshman coach at CHS. Both of his sons, Joshua who graduated in 2000, and Jonathan in 2007, played football for the Pack, making the head coach job even sweeter.

“Now I finally get to run my own program, which is a blessing,” he said.

Mr. Jarin uses the words fortunate and blessed quite a bit in conversation.

“This year has been good for our family, because the birth of our granddaughter Jade and because I got the head coach job,” he said. Jade’s French middle name roughly translates to “on point,” which has become a motto for Mr. Jarin.

“We’re on point every day,” he said. The boys are in the weight room getting stronger and building the camaraderie to be a better team. “Come next season, our game needs to be on point.”

Coming on the heels of Mr. Collins, who had such a long tenure in Claremont, Mr. Jarin is aware of high expectations.

“I want to add to the tradition here at Claremont and to truly create a better version of the student athlete, coaching staff and Wolfpack family,” he said.

He launched the first-ever study hall for players who have a 2.4 GPA or lower. Those players must study for the first 45 minutes of practice, which will motivate some to raise their grades because he says, “If you are not at practice, you are not going to start.”

Mr. Jarin says he was fortunate to retain Mr. Collins’ staff including Milo Epling who will become assistant head coach and defensive coordinator and Ryan Campuzano who will be offensive coordinator.

Mr. Jarin has lived in Claremont for 19 years with his wife Robin where they raised their two boys.

The Wolfpack had a winning season last year but the team struggled a bit before that. Perhaps a hard program to inherit but it seems the school has chosen a good leader.

—Steven Felschundneff

steven@claremont-courier.com