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Man behind the machine
Before turning down the hallway that leads to Redell's office, he stops at a secretary's desk and gives her an instruction that immediately piques my interest. "If Pete Carroll calls," Redell said, "tell him I'm in a meeting and will be with him shortly." At first, I'm thinking Redell's putting me on, buttering me up prior to our conversation. But when we wrap up the interview less than an hour later, Carroll, the head football coach at USC, and a companion are sitting on a couch in the same lobby waiting for their turn to talk to the Lions' head coach. Looking back, it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise that one of college football's most influential men wanted to meet with Redell.
Behind Redell and a coaching staff that includes 19-year NFL veteran Clay Matthews, the Oaks Christian football team has become a powerhouse both locally and nationally. OCHS was ranked third in the U.S. by Sports Illus- trated to begin the season. The Lions have captured three consecutive CIF-SS championships and are currently riding a 33game winning streak. The last time OCHS lost a game was against crosstown rival Oak Park during the 2003 regular season, a contest that wasn't decided until one second remained on the clock. "They put a second back on the clock, gave them one more play and they beat us," Redell said"When I look back, I don't think they deserved to win the game the way they did, but they did deserve to win the game. They outplayed us for 48 minutes. The best team won that night." 'It's no secret that there's no love lost for Oaks Christian.' Bill Redell OCHS head coach During the course of our meeting, Redell will discuss a plethora of subjects, topics ranging from coaching kids and playing in the Canadian Football League (CFL)to his time working for then California Gov. Ronald Reagan. He'll talk about family-Redell and his wife, Cheryl, have three sons, Randy, Ronny and Billy, and eight grandchildren-as well as his enshrinement into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. And, ultimately, Redell will chat about the topic that seems to follow him wherever he goes: Does he recruit football players? "It's no secret that there's no love lost for Oaks Christian," the 65-year-old coach said. "People feel that we have an unfair advantage because we're a private school. And they think we recruit." Redell will explain how Oaks Christian offers financial aid to students whose families qualifyadding that the process is all done through a third-party governing board. It's a speech he's delivered many times. "People think that if you can run a 10.5 (second) 100 meters, then all of the sudden there's more money available for you," he said. "That's not true. So we don't recruit. The school sells itself." Oak Park High head coach Dick Billingsley said he has a great deal of respect for the OCHS football program, and any talk of the team recruiting players who live outside of the area is just speculation. But, he adds, tension between the two schools was evident early on when five Oak Park players decided to attend Oaks Christian in its first year. "We were a little bit perturbed about that because they decided to leave their home school to go to a private school," Billingsley said. "I can't speculate about what went on, but I do know these five guys decided to go to Oaks Christian, which they were free to make their choice where they wanted to go," he said. "And they all turned out to be very good football players, by the way." During two stints as head coach at Crespi High, where he coached his first CIF championship team, a seven-year tenure at St. Francis and seven additional years at Oaks Christian, Redell's programs have never been found guilty of recruiting athletes. Nevertheless, Redell said, he's given up trying to explain himself to those who question his ethics. "The word isn't resentful, I'm disappointed," he said. "We run a clean program and are still accused. We're kind of guilty before being proven innocent." The coach is quick to admit that some of his frustration from the ongoing recruiting debate stems from the fact that he's a football lifer. He has too much respect for the game to tarnish it by breaking the rules, Redell said. "It really does make me feel bad," he said. "I'm very ethical in regards to the game of football and everything it does." Growing up in Pasadena, Redell was a three-sport star at San Marino High, where he earned All-CIF honors on five occasions-three times in baseball and twice in football. Upon graduating in 1960, he considered signing with the Milwaukee Braves, but opted instead to attend USC and play football. Following a year with the Trojans, where USC head coach John McKay tried moving him from quarterback to running back, Redell transferred to Occidental College to play for his high school coach, Vic Schwenk. As a transfer student, Redell had to sit out his first season at Occidental. When he was allowed to play the following year, Redell became a jack-of-all-trades for the NAIA program. In 1963, as a quarterback, defensive back, place kicker and punter, Redell earned NAIA first-team honors on defense and was named an All-Conference quarterback. Following his college career, Redell was drafted by the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and the AFL's Denver Broncos. "In those days, they had like 28 rounds in the draft," he said. "There were only about 14 NFL teams back then." After being released by the Rams in 1964, Redell played defensive back and quarterback for Edmonton in the CFL for three seasons. He was later traded to Hamilton, where his team won a Grey Cup in 1967. Hamilton later shipped Redell to Calgary, where he finished his paying career. Redell married Cheryl, a runner-up for Miss California in the early '60s, during his third season of professional football. "I could eat corn through a picket fence, had a receding hairline and a broken nose, and she still married me," Redell said. The couple moved to Westlake in 1977 and has lived there since. During his high school coaching career, for which he currently carries an overall record of 159 wins, 56 losses and three ties, Redell said he's had the pleasure of being surrounded by many talented leaders. Three current Marmonte League head coaches who've worked under Redell at different times in their careers are Westlake's Jim Benkert, Moorpark's Tim Lins and Thousand Oaks' Mike Sanders. During an interview with Sanders this summer, he said Redell was instrumental in helping him land the Thousand Oaks gig. "He was a major player in helping me get the Thousand Oaks job," Sanders said. "I know he made some phone calls and talked to the athletic director at the time. He was a very credible resource for me in helping me get the position." When asked if he'll hang up his whistle for good in a few months, Redell contemplated his answer before breaking out a big smile. "I thought I'd probably retire at the end of this season," he said. "But my wife and I are going to sit down at the end of the year and review everything. "Heck, I may stay just to irritate Billingsley." That one made me chuckle. I couldn't help but think Redell just might be serious. |
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