St. Bernard High Appoints Veteran Dean Herrington as New Football Coach

Dean Herrington has been hired as the new head football coach at St. Bernard High in Playa del Rey.

"The vision of President Casey Yeazel and principal Austin Jackson for school and the football program is everything a coach would want to be a part of," Herrington told High School On SI.

"Can’t wait to get started!"

His brother Rick Herrington will be the defensive coordinator.

Herrington, 62, most recently spent five seasons at La Canada St. Francis where he guided the Golden Knights to back-to-back CIF Southern Section finals in 2021 and 2022. He also won three Angelus League titles during his time at the helm.

A longtime coach in Southern California, Herrington has also served as the head coach at Bishop Alemany and Paraclete, developing a reputation for building competitive programs and developing quarterbacks.

“Coach Herrington brings a rare combination of championship experience, player development expertise, and deep commitment to forming young men of character,” said President Casey Yeazel, “as a Catholic school, our mission is not only to develop great athletes, but to help shape young men who live lives of integrity, discipline, and faith. We are thrilled to welcome a coach of his caliber to St. Bernard. His track record of helping student-athletes succeed both on the field and in life aligns perfectly with our mission.”

Standouts QBs like Kyle Boller, Matt Moore, Vernon Adams Jr., and Brevin White were just a few All-CIF-types that played under the tutelage of Herrington.

"A total of 17 quarterbacks have earned Division I scholarship offers, and more than 130 players have gone on to play college football, reflecting his commitment to developing student-athletes both athletically and academically," the school's press release says.

Herrington was at Paraclete for six years where he was 40-20, won two CIF-SS titles and a CIF State championship. At Alemany, he was 84-44 in 10 seasons and won seven league titles. He took Alemany to the 2009 Western Division final.

Herrington will look to add to his 159 career wins at St. Bernard.

ST. BERNARD HISTORY

Herrington now takes over a St. Bernard program that has been working to rebuild in recent years and finished the 2025 campaign 5-5.

The bones for a small, great program are there after resources were put into a new field. But scandal hit the program hard in 2020 and 2021 after then-coach Manny Douglas resigned amid an FBI and IRS investigation.

The Vikings didn't field a team for two seasons, according to MaxPreps.com. But brought things back for the 2024 season.

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