Loud and Proud

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Before hobbling off the football field at Hamilton High last Thursday afternoon, Palisades JV line coach Kelly Loftus shouted one last time “How about them Dolphins!”

Loftus thanked his players for their hard work and dedication to a program he has poured his heart and soul into for two decades. Then he threw down his clipboard and dove head-first into a team picture and enjoyed a Gatorade bath after the Dolphins’ 40-0 victory—a rousing send-off for a man who started coaching in 1977, when JV head coach Ray Marsden was all of a year old.    

“The knowledge he has from 40 years coaching at all levels, from Pop Warner to JV to varsity and college… that will be missed,” Marsden said. “Just look what he did this season. He took five freshman linemen who hadn’t played before and molded them into a cohesive unit.”

Loftus is retiring from coaching but said he will still continue as Senior Dean at Pali High, a position  he has held for 14 years.

“It’s bittersweet, it’s a tough pill to swallow, but my body’s falling apart,” said Loftus, who has persevered through four knee surgeries, a knee replacement and two torn Achilles injuries. “It’s time.”

Loftus vividly remembers stepping onto campus for the first time in 1998 and being interviewed by then Principal Merle Price.

“He asked me ‘what do you see as your future here?’ and I answered “I’ll be the football coach and  someday I’ll have your job,” Loftus said, chuckling. “Of course I was popping off but I got hired three days before school started. I flew home and drove my car back the next day. I had a junker car and for the first couple years I rented a place on Haverford so I wouldn’t be late.”

Loftus started as a walk-on assistant for junior varsity coach John Kucher and quickly became known for his booming voice, which could be heard across campus, and his vibrant personality.      

Loftus grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan where he starred in football, basketball and baseball at a tiny high school with a graduating class of 56 people.

“When I first moved here from the Midwest I called the ocean Lake Michigan,” said Loftus, who bought a house in Canoga Park with his wife Norma and lived in Van Nuys before that. “I can honestly say this is home now.”

Loftus replaced Leo Castro as Pali High’s varsity head coach in 2007 and posted a 7-23 record over the next three seasons.

“That was a dream come true… those three years  were the experience of a lifetime,” Loftus said. “It’s ironic that this is where it’s ending because I got my first win on this field. We had to play every game on the road my first year and we’d lost every game, but we won 21-14 on a pick-six.”       

Loftus spent three years as co-head coach of the Dolphins’ varsity baseball team from 2004-06.

“I feel as though I have better intuition in baseball but I enjoy football more and it suits my temperament more. I have to be more subdued in baseball.”

Now 61, Loftus has a Master’s degree in School Administration. He believes the game is better now than went he started coaching: “It’s so much more advanced now. We’re getting ninth graders who already know the right stance and the right techniques.”