Football coach who led Morro Bay to state title game is leaving. Here’s where he’s going
Morro Bay’s head football coach — who led the team to a CIF-Central Section Division 6 title last season and a state final runner-up — is leaving for a new job.
Jake Goossen-Brown, who was hired in 2019, is leaving to become the new offensive coordinator at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, his alma mater and where he had coached for 12 years before coming to Morro Bay.
Goossen-Brown said that being the head coach at Morro Bay has been “an unforgettable experience.”
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation as the head coach at Morro Bay High School,” Goossen-Brown wrote in a Twitter post. “The decision was not an easy one to make, but ultimately it is what is best for my future career.”
Goossen-Brown told The Tribune he’ll be close to family, including getting to see his younger sister’s soccer games at Cal State Northridge, while coaching at one of the highest levels of California prep football.
Coach calls it a ‘bittersweet’ move
He said he’ll deeply miss the North Coast, his players and fellow staff and faculty. The Morro Bay coach said their accomplishments academically were as impressive as their feats on the field, with senior standouts Christian Merrill and Dylan Turner both earning grade-point averages well above 4.0.
“They’re a great group of kids,” Goossen-Brown said. “It’s a bittersweet thing and just so great to have all the memories.”
Another teacher, Linnae Coiner, would cut out articles of the team’s coverage in The Tribune and laminate them to have on Goossen-Brown’s desk each Monday morning, he said.
“I’m not really an emotional person,” Goossen-Brown said. “But I have them all in my office, and as I was packing today, I saw them and almost starting crying thinking about it.”
Goossen-Brown said on Twitter that leaving the community and team of “great men” is tough, but he said he feels “comfortable knowing that I have left the program in a much better position that when I began three years ago, and I am confident that these Pirate men will continue that mission.”
He added: “I want all the student-athletes to know that I will always be there if they are ever in need.”
Departure comes after a championship season
Morro Bay made a thrilling run in the playoffs last fall, winning four straight games, including the 35-33 CIF-Central Section Division 6 championship victory over Taft.
After its section title, the Pirates beat Loara of Anaheim 35-27 to go on to face Fall River of McAurther near Redding in the CIF 7-AA state football final. The Pirates lost lost the state title game 43-13.
Arriving after Morro Bay endured a 1-9 season, Goossen-Brown improved to 3-8 in his first campaign, before going 1-4 in a 2020 spring season disrupted by COVID-19, and 8-7 in 2021. His record is 12-19 overall and 3-9 in Ocean League play, according to MaxPreps.com.
Goossen-Brown, the nephew of longtime Arroyo Grande football coach Tom Goossen, was alerted to the Morro Bay job by his uncle.
He said he’d applied to head coaching jobs in Southern California but wasn’t selected before coming to San Luis Obispo County. He sought the Morro Bay position to gain head coaching experience. He also served as a physical education teacher at Morro Bay.
Following the Pirates’ memorable run, the team will return star quarterback Nicky Johnson as a senior next season and other key contributors.
“I’ve said to everybody that the biggest testament to what we’ve done would be being successful without me because that means I’ve taught them to be successful,” Goossen-Brown said.
Templeton coach wins award
Templeton head football coach Don Crow was selected as a California Section Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Crow led the Eagles, depleted by the loss of key seniors from 2020 and injuries this year, to a 5-6 overall and a 2-3 Ocean League record.
The Eagles, along with other SLO County teams, play in the CIF-Central Section.
An awards ceremony will be held at an Honors Evening at The Gardens in Visalia to recognize coaches and staff.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 6:57 PM.
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