One of state’s best coaches might leave

Nick Christensen

Friday, March 25, 2005 | 9:44 a.m.

Coming off an undefeated regular season, Foothill's football team looked poised next year to make a run at the school's first state athletics title.

But the Falcons may have to do it without a man who has quickly become one of Southern Nevada's most respected coaches.

Ray Fenton, who took the Falcons to the state semifinals in 2001 after Foothill went 1-8 in 1999, has been offered the head coaching job at Cypress (Calif.) High School, located just north of Long Beach.

Cypress athletic director Craig Crabb confirmed Thursday that he and the school's principal shadowed Fenton for a day at Foothill and offered him the Cypress opening that evening.

It was not immediately known whether Fenton would take the Cypress job, which Crabb stressed was still pending final approval.

Fenton graduated from Cypress High in 1981, and was an assistant there before going to River Valley (Ariz.) and eventually on to Foothill.

Reached Wednesday, Fenton would not comment on reports that he had been offered a job in California. Multiple attempts to reach Fenton Thursday night were unsuccessful, and messages were not returned.

Attempts to reach Foothill athletic director J.D. Fraser were also unsuccessful.

"We observed Ray in his element, saw him talk to kids, talk to people," Crabb said. "We felt that he was really the total package of what we wanted in a coach and person and teacher. He represents our school in the best way; he runs his program in a very professional manner."

Fenton had quickly worked his way to being one of Southern Nevada's most respected coaches, building a program from the basement to the penthouse in three seasons.

He did that at a school with some of the lowest enrollment numbers in the two southern 4A regions. The only southern 4A schools with fewer students were Liberty, Spring Valley, Canyon Springs and Del Sol, which all opened in the past two years.

The Falcons were to return many key parts of the cast that went undefeated up to last year's Sunrise Region semifinal, including running back D'Angelo Jones. Jones, as a sophomore, was second in Las Vegas in rushing yards with 1,861 on 221 carries.

While it wasn't clear whether Fenton would accept the job, sources within the local coaching community said that his alma mater had always appealed to him. Crabb said that Fenton moved on from Cypress originally because enrollment was low. Thus, there weren't any open teaching positions for him.

Foothill is 44-21 in the six years Fenton has been coach.