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Former Woodbridge head football coach Aaron Craver said Friday he is joining the varsity football program at University High School to work with head coach Vince Mesa.
University and Woodbridge are both members of the Omicron League in football.
Craver will have a major role with the Trojan football program, according to Athletic Director Tom Shrake.
“Coach Aaron Craver will be joining the University High School football coaching staff. His official title will be senior assistant coach, serving as the defensive coordinator,” Shrake said Friday. “He will also assist with some of the head coach responsibilities.”
Woodbridge High School officials told Craver on Wednesday that he would not be returning as head coach after five years. But Craver told OC Sports Zone he wanted to still coach football.
“We talked about it a little,” Craver said Friday. “He’s (Mesa) been very supportive during the part when I first got suspended (at Woodbridge over the football team’s early ending in a game vs. Pacifica). We’ve always kind of been lock-step on a few different things.”
Craver was suspended for the last three games of the regular season and in the CIF playoffs.
“I appreciated his (Mesa’s) support and basically the comforting conversations we’ve had during the time when I was suspended,” Craver said.
Craver said there were a few other offers he was considering but believed the best move for him was at University. He has a younger daughter and son who attend middle school in the area and are scheduled to attend University when they reach high school.
“I know Uni is a rival school to Woodbridge, but it’s pretty close to everything I do, my youth organization, my two younger kids, that’s the school they’re supposed to feed into ….. “It’s a new beginning for me.”
Craver said he will continue as coach of the Woodbridge track and field team in the spring, and then evaluate after that time whether to remain with the program.
“It’s just a new beginning for everyone involved,” Craver said. “Woodbridge wanted to go in another direction, I have some great memories at Woodbridge in track and through football with all the great Woodbridge students, some who didn’t even play sports. I had a great time with the students, regardless of any of the professional side of it, the ups and downs there, the students have always been a joy to be around.”
OC Sports Zone has reached out to Mesa, the head coach, for comment.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
