Stage Awaits Word at Burbank as Surrogate Football Coach

The new football coach at Burbank High will seem like a familiar face by the time he is officially selected by the Burbank Unified School District, a move that is expected in about a month.

Principal Bill Bertrand has recommended Randy Stage as a replacement for Dave Carson as the school’s football coach. Bertrand expects the district to accept that recommendation by the end of this month or early next month.

By that time, Stage will have been on the job for more than two months. He volunteered to serve as interim coach without pay during the spring and maintains that status.

Stage assumed the responsibility of running the team after Carson resigned in May to replace Rick Scott as the coach of Foothill League rival Hart. Scott left in April to coach at Buena High in Ventura.

Carson lured Stage from South Pasadena, where he had served as an assistant, and recommended him for the interim job. His performance as a solid football man with a gentle touch with the players impressed Bertrand.

“We weren’t looking for a blood-and-guts-type football coach. That style is over,” Bertrand said. “He’s a good teacher and knows how to handle kids. He also ran well-organized practices and knows football.”

Carson, who turned over control of the Burbank offense to Stage when the latter was hired as an assistant, was impressed with Stage’s understanding of the passing game.

“I was going to move to the defensive side and I needed someone to take care of the offense,” said Carson, 39, who was 31-27 in five seasons. “I was lucky to get someone with his qualifications for an assistant. And I think when they saw him run the team in the spring, it convinced them he could do the job.”

Stage will teach physical education and health at Burbank if the district hires him. The Sun Valley resident played wide receiver at Burroughs in Burbank and continued his playing career at Glendale College and Cal State Fullerton.

He inherits a Burbank team that was 6-4 last year but had to forfeit all its wins for use of an ineligible player.