Wein Knows Dolphins’ Offense

Heading into his second season, one of the top priorities for Palisades High head football coach Kelly Loftus was hiring experienced coordinators to assist him with the development of his players. So who better to bring aboard to run the Dolphins’ offense than the man who spent years devising schemes to stop it’former Palisadian and longtime Westchester coach Larry Wein. “Ron coached with me at Hamilton,” Wein said, referring to Dolphins’ defensive coordinator Ron Evans. “At UCLA, Ron played with Kenny Norton, Jr., who played for me at Westchester. He asked if I’d be interested in coaching at Palisades. I talked with Coach Loftus and here I am.” As offensive coordinator, Wein will have a talented group to work with–a rapidly improving line, five or six fast receivers and a highly-touted sophomore quarterback. The question marks for him are in the backfield, for Wein believes success lies in a team’s ability to run. “I like what I’ve seen so far and I think this group is going to surprise a lot of people,” Wein said. “It’s a good group of kids and I’ve enjoyed working with them. They have real good attitudes and are willing to learn.” Wein moved to Cheviot Hills in 2001, 11 years after his younger son David graduated from Westchester. After stepping down at Westchester he took over the program at Hamilton and built it back to respectability. He retired after three seasons at L.A. Hamilton, but last year volunteered at Paul Revere, where both of his sons attended to middle school. He has over 200 wins at the varsity level. “I’ve been fortunate to coach some great players over the years,” Wein said. Among them were Larry Triplett, an All-American tackle who played in the NFL; Aaron Cox, a former wide receiver for the L.A. Rams; and Kevin Johnson, who played tackle for the Oakland Raiders. A Fairfax High graduate, Wein played quarterback at Cal State Los Angeles. He began coaching City football in 1971, where he stayed for 10 years before taking over the head job at Westchester. There he would rack up 162 wins in 20 seasons, including the City championship in 1987. Wein also guided the Comets to numerous league titles’quite often at Palisades’ expense. “It seemed like it was always us and Pali competing for the league title,” Wein remembers. “They had some nice teams, talented teams. I think the difference is we were a little more physical and we were better defensively.” The irony for Wein during his days at Westchester is that the school he grew so accustomed to beating was just minutes from the house on Corsica he lived in for 25 years. In fact, his older son Craig Stewart played cornerback at PaliHi, graduating in 1978. “Craig played with Jay Schroeder,” Wein recalled. “Back then, 80 percent of the school district was familiar with football. Now it’s more like 20 percent. So there are fewer kids playing football.” Ironically, Wein always coached against Palisades when he lived here and now that he’s moved away, he’s coaching at the school he used to consider his archrival. “I raised my family here so it’s nice to be back,” he said. Right now, though, Wein prefers to focus on the task at hand: getting his offense ready for the season. Palisades plays Washington in a scrimmage on September 4 and opens the season against Hollywood Sept. 12 at Stadium by the Sea.