San Marino to Hire Mike Hobbie as New Head Football Coach

principal Loren Kleinrock confirmed the school's intentions to hire Mike Hobbie as its new head football coach Monday night following a San Marino School Board meeting.

Hobbie, who spent the last four years as head coach at Roosevelt High School in Fresno, will replace Mike Mooney, who was placed on administrative leave last October and dismissed from his position as head coach.

"We have been given the go ahead by the board — the superintendent has been given the go ahead — to make this hire, and pending fingerprints and (testing) he's going to be hired," Kleinrock said.

Kleinrock said that in addition to coaching the Titans, Hobbie will be a P.E. teacher at San Marino.

Kleinrock said the school received 54 applications for the position, and himself, superintendent Dr. Gary W. Woods, and SMHS assistant principal D.R. Moreland separated the pool of applicants to three different groups ranging from serious candidates to not so serious.

With the help of a hiring committee that included various members of the San Marino committee in addition to Oaks Christian football coach and SMHS alum Bill Redell, seven candidates were selected for interviews. And at the end of the process, Hobbie was the clear-cut favorite. 

"At the end there was a vote," Kleinrock said. "When all was said and done, of the eight people who voted, seven of them had Mike Hobbie as No. 1, the other one had him kind of as a 1A.

"It was pretty clear, and Redell said, 'Hey if you guys don't hire him, I'm offering him a position on my staff.' "

Kleinrock said that Hobbie's track record of turning around programs and his knowledge of the game made him an appealing candidate. In four years at Roosevelt, Hobbie compiled a 26-19 record after taking over a program that went 0-10 in 2006, and he posted winning records in his last three seasons. Hobbie also was once the offensive coordinator at the University of South Florida.

Kleinrock also said Hobbie, who was at San Marino on Monday, showed the two most important traits the committee wanted in its new coach. It wanted a coach that would set a positive moral example for his players, and someone with the attitude that San Marino can have a successful and winning program.

"We just found that he had everything that we were looking for, and everything that the committee of boosters said that they want in a football coach," Kleinrock said. "So we're pretty excited about it."

Check back later in the week for more analysis on the Titans' new hire.