Mission Prep football coach announces resignation after 9 seasons
Mission Prep’s head football coach David Schuster is resigning after nine seasons at the helm.
With an overall record of 60-34, Schuster is the winningest coach in program history.
He took over the program after it had temporarily dropped to an eight-man program in 2017 and 2018 due to a lack of players to fill out an 11-man roster.
Schuster came to Mission Prep after serving as an assistant football coach at Grace Brethren high school in Simi Valley.
Schuster said that it has been “an absolute dream come true coaching here at Mission.”
“It was my dream school almost a decade ago, and I’ve got so much love and affection for this place,” Schuster said. “We have the greatest kids in the world here. The things that they’re asked to do and the toughness that they show, I just have the greatest admiration for the kids that have come through here and are still here at the school.”
Schuster, who works as an enrollment associate in Mission Prep’s admissions office along with serving as the school’s football coach, said that he has accepted a new position as head coach at Ontario Christian high school in San Bernardino County for next school year.
“They’re great people,” Schuster said of Ontario Christian. “I’m very, very excited about the new journey for me and my family.”
Highlights of Schuster’s tenure include a 2018-19 CIF championship run in eight-man football, defeating Fresno Christian 60-20 to cap off a perfect 12-0 season record. The program fully returned to 11-man football school in 2019-20.
The 2021-22 team also was one of the best in school history, finishing with a 10-1 season record and a 5-0 Ocean League title behind a star-studded squad that included J.J. Howard, Tyler Garrett, David Andrade, Jack Susank, Drew Harrigan, Colby White, Jacob Butler, Connor Lopez and others.
The 2022-23 (8-4, 6-1 Mountain League) and 2023-24 (8-4, 5-2 Mountain) teams made it to the CIF-Central Section semi-finals before losing.
Royals teams made the playoffs in each of his Schuster’s years as head coach.
Mission Prep has not yet named a new head football coach.
“It has been an emotional week because we did some very good things here,” Schuster said. “I’m proud that I’m handing off the program in a far better (state) than the way I inherited it. It’s time for a new voice and new leadership. I’m going to be the biggest supporter and cheerleader of Mission Prep football.”
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