A letter from Jeremy Osso

Five years ago I was offered a chance to take on my dream job as the head football coach at Costa Mesa High School. I took over a program that had just come off back-to-back 1-9 seasons and had seen four coaches in as many years.

I once heard a radio personality talking about a college team that was in the same situation, refer to this as a, "program-killer." And, while there were tough bumps on the way to reviving the program, I'm happy to say that Costa Mesa Football is no longer dead. However, I will not be around to see the program thrive because I have been fired as head coach at Costa Mesa High School.

Principal Phil D'Agostino has made the decision to move forward in an attempt to hire an on-campus coach.

While we never got the elusive playoff win that this school has been chasing for years, I am proud of the work we did at The Costa Mesa High School. On the field we accomplished most of the goals we set in front of us. Three straight playoff appearances (2007-2009), back-to-back league championships (2007, 2008), falling just short of a third straight championship and even this year, taking a team that did not win a game as freshmen and finishing 14 points shy of a 7-3 record.

While I am proud of the boys for their on-the-field progress, I am most proud of what these boys have done in our community. We mentored Pop Warner teams, we volunteered at jog-a-thons, we "battled the brush", we put our feet to work in the ALS walk to support an assistant coach's sister, we volunteered at a soup kitchen, we wrapped Christmas gifts and handed out presents at an event for low-income families, we shaved our heads for Edison football player Luke Gane and when one of our own was diagnosed with leukemia we held "Cutting for Carlos."

We got out in the community, not because we wanted recognition, but because you should always give back to the community that has helped you.

And while I'm sad to be leaving a program that I love so much I feel confident that I have left the program in a better situation than when I started. Last season out of 70 varsity and junior varsity football players we had 15 players with above a 3.0 grade-point average and nobody academically ineligible at the end of the football season.