Hyde Earns Head Coaching Shot at PaliHi

After graduating from Redondo High School, where he was the team captain on defense his senior season, Tim Hyde decided against going to college. Instead, he coached for two years as an assistant under Chris Hyduke at Redondo before joining the Marines for four years in 1991. Early this year, Hyde was hired as Palisades High’s new football coach after spending last season as Crespi High’s defensive coordinator and 18 seasons overall as an assistant.
Even when he wasn’t on the sidelines, Hyde was never really away from the game.
“I knew I was going to do four years [in the Marines], get out and go right back into coaching,” Hyde told the Palisadian-Post. “In the Marines I always would have football books and journals with me. I was a huge Notre Dame fan during the Lou Holtz era and used to follow and study him, and I read a ton of stuff about Bill Parcells. Those were two huge influences on me in terms of studying up on coaches.”
A two-way player in high school – he was an All-League selection as a nose guard and also played offensive line – Hyde, 42, is hoping to bring versatility to a team that reached the City Section playoffs last season under Perry Jones, going 6-5, but was whitewashed by Dorsey in the postseason, 62-22.
Hyde’s previous 18 seasons have all been as an assistant or coordinator, and have all been on the defensive side on the football, first at Mary Star of the Sea High School in San Pedro, then El Camino College and Ventura College before Crespi.  But Hyde has worked with coaches who have close ties to legendary San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, the inventor of the West Coast Offense, and also knows that his defensive expertise will help him tailor an offense in need of an upgrade.
“People have been asking me, ‘Coach, what offense are you running?’” Hyde said. “Well, I’ve coached 18 years of defense, so I’m running an offense that I don’t want to defend. I know what works on offense. I know what’s not fun to defend. So that’s what we’re going to be running.”
While fans should not expect to see an Air Coryell-style of football, the Dolphins, with senior quarterback Taylor Mensik under center, will be throwing much more under Hyde than they did under Jones. Mensik will be working with an inexperienced but promising group of receivers, led by juniors Herbert Acosta, Desmond Box, Quincy Cowherd and Ryan Holbert.
In the meantime, with the season opener still weeks away – September 6 against Marshall – Hyde is simply looking to get his team prepared. That also means not tagging lofty goals on his team before it has even played a game.
“We don’t talk about games, opponents or our schedule [right now],” Hyde said. “We can’t say that our goal is to go 7-3 or 9-1 until we play games, because every Friday is a different world. The important thing for coaches is to be consistent every day, to have a routine. I like discipline and I like structure, because I’m an ex-Marine. And when I say discipline, I mean having a plan.”

Part of Hyde’s coaching routine is driving his players while striking a balance between hard work, discipline and having a good relationship with them.
“I’ve been around a lot of coaches who said to me that I give my players tough love, and by tough love I mean I work hard and I love my kids, but I’m going to be extremely honest with them, and I’m going to push them but in a good way. I take great pride in that.”
One of the Dolphins’ senior captains, Marc Simon, who like Hyde is a two-way player on both interior lines, echoed those sentiments.
“[Coach Hyde] is an enthusiastic coach,” Simon said. “He pushes everybody and he doesn’t show favoritism. He pushes us all to work hard as a team, because we’re all in this together. I like how we’re running things this year.”
Added fellow senior captain Kellen Ware, a safety: “He’s a rah-rah guy. He loves his players, but he works us real hard because he believes we can go far this year.”
Though he is still getting familiar with his personnel, Hyde, who hired Jerry Phillips as his defensive coordinator and Rocky Montz to run the offense, believes one of his biggest strengths is evaluating players and assessing their talents. In fact, he recalled it being one of the first things he was asked about when he interviewed for the position.
“This year we’re going to be a hybrid of a 3-4 and 4-3 on defense, and for me it’s about developing kids and putting them in a position to have success,” Hyde said. “It’s about figuring out where I can move guys around.”
Phillips coached defensive backs at Crespi last season, while Montz was an offensive assistant at Notre Dame High.