Mater Dei has named former Long Beach Poly coach Raul Lara as its new football coach effective immediately. Lara had been head coach at St. Anthony, where he briefly worked with Mater Dei President Michael Brennan. He won five Division 1 titles when he was head coach at Poly.
By working out a deal with Lara, Brennan will be completing a clean break from the days of Bruce Rollinson, who took over the program in 1989 until his retirement in 2022. Frank McManus, a former Rollinson assistant, guided the team to Division 1 and state Open Division titles last year in his only season as head coach before being dismissed two weeks ago.
Lara was considered the favorite to land the job but the delay in naming him raised questions. He’s ready to take over immediately and bring in his own staff since the Monarchs are supposed to begin spring football practice.
