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Rocky Montz and Chris Hyduke will Share Coaching Duties at Palisades High This Season

By STEVE GALLUZZO  |  Sports Editor

In a way, the Palisades High football program is returning to its roots for the 2021 season. For the first 20+ years of the team’s history the Dolphins were piloted by co-coaches Dick North, who ran the offense, and Merritt Stanfield, who handled the defense. Palisades is going back to that forumla following the departure of eight-year coach Tim Hyde, as former offensive coordinator Rocky Montz will assist former defensive coach Chris Hyduke this fall.   

Montz served as Hyde’s OC from 2013-17 and  has also coached at Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, CT, Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks and Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. He currently works as the Facilities & Operations Manager at Willows Community School and is eager to continue the success Hyde fermented.

“The biggest negative is time—we’re coming in pretty late,” Montz admitted. “On the positive side we have a really good foundation so it’s more or less a plug and play situation.Tim’s thing was to be a tough out and pound the rock, that’s the backbone of the program and it would be foolish to go away from that right now. The idea is to impose your will on the other team. Can we have athletes out in space who can scare the opponent? Yes, with the talent we have coming back I think we can do that. I was here for the first five years of Tim’s tenure and we went to the playoffs every time. So this is like coming home for me.”

While Montz is at the beginning of what he hopes will be a long coaching career, Hyduke is in the twilight of his—a journey that included being the DC at South Torrance High from 1999-2014. Hyduke served as head coach at Crespi and Redondo Union and was an assistant at St. Francis and Loyola. He is a retired history and psychology teacher and recalled having Hyde in his class at Redondo. He later became Hyde’s  position coach and joined Hyde’s staff at Pali High in 2015. Hyduke is old-school and fiery—a perfect contrast to Montz’s calmer approach.

“I wasn’t expecting to be back but they asked me to help out so here I am,” said Hyduke, who will serve as head coach. “I’m glad Rocky can come in and run the offense so I can focus on defense. We’re still figuring things out and seeing who fits where, but when we do we should be good.”

Returning to coach the offensive line is Johnny Garcia. He was a star lineman for La Mirada High, then played at Cerritos College and Orange Coast College. Jeremy Read has been on Palisades’ staff since 2018, coaching linebackers and special teams. He was a two-way standout at Rancho Bernardo High and went to two Rose Bowls as a walk-on linebacker at the University of Michigan under Lloyd Carr.

Ray Marsden will continue to head the Dolphins’ JV team, assisted by line coaches and defensive coordinators Adam Licea and Sean Brown.