Assistant principal joins CCS
Morgan accepts position as assistant commissioner
Duane Morgan enjoys living in Hollister. He loves San Benito
High School and plans for his three boys to go there when they are
of high school age. But this fall the school’s assistant principal
will no longer be on campus.
Instead, he’ll be focusing on his new duties as the assistant
commissioner of the Central Coast Section
– the organization that governs high school sports from San
Francisco to King City.
Assistant principal joins CCS
Morgan accepts position as assistant commissioner
Duane Morgan enjoys living in Hollister. He loves San Benito High School and plans for his three boys to go there when they are of high school age. But this fall the school’s assistant principal will no longer be on campus.
Instead, he’ll be focusing on his new duties as the assistant commissioner of the Central Coast Section – the organization that governs high school sports from San Francisco to King City.
“This was a really good move for me,” Morgan said. “I jumped at the chance to go to CCS. There are a lot of good people out there who were up for the job (36). I’m just glad I got the position.”
Morgan opted to leave San Benito High after a seven-year stint, where over those years he handled everything from the vice principal duties to overseeing discipline on campus, counseling and overall scheduling. Four years ago, he filled the role as the school’s interim principal.
“I really like San Benito High, and would have stayed but this is the perfect situation for me,” he said. “I’m excited about it.”
Morgan began working in his new role with the Section front offices on July 1. He won’t take over completely until December when longtime Assistant Commissioner Steve Stearns retires after serving in the role for 18 years.
“Stearns is going to stick around to show me the ropes,” said Morgan, 53.
As the organization’s Assistant Commissioner, Morgan will work closely with Commissioner Nancy Lazenby Blaser.
“Duane’s impressive background and experience as well as his tireless commitment to serving student athletes and member schools of the CCS, make Duane a wonderful addition to our staff,” Lazenby Blaser said. “Duane’s face lights up when he talks about student athletes and his passion for high school sports and all that young people can learn through a positive high school athletic experience.”
Morgan comes to the CCS with more than 28 years of service in the field of education in the state of California. During his tenure, he has been a teacher, coach and an athletic administrator at Overfelt and Santa Teresa High Schools in San Jose before coming to San Benito High in 2000.
Although he enjoys his short commute to San Benito High, the longtime Hollister resident is looking forward to the executive position with the Section.
“Right now, I’m learning about the job so that I’m efficient and proficient,” Morgan said.
In addition to working closely with Lazenby Blaser, Morgan will focus a great deal of his efforts working with player eligibility issues and transfer rules as well as focusing on the numerous concerns of coaches.
“What I’m hearing is that most coaches have issues with communication, getting a hold of someone for an answer,” Morgan said. “Even if it is not the answer that they want to hear, at least they’ll get an answer.”
Today, there are 110 schools in the section, which means the job has become more of a high-profile one over the years but Morgan has the credentials to meet the challenge.
“It’s a huge job and it’s more complex every year,” Morgan said.
After graduating from San Jose State University in 1976 with a bachelor’s in Physical Education, Morgan landed his first job at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose where he taught health, physical education and was the school’s wrestling coach.
After leaving Piedmont Hills, Morgan went to Overfelt High School where he worked 17 years as a physical education teacher who also coached softball, wrestling and volleyball. He also did a brief stint at Santa Teresa High School where he served as the dean advisor in charge of discipline and attendance.
Morgan has also served as a game official in the sport of softball and is currently the CIF Wrestling rule interpreter and on one of the most respected wrestling officials in the state every year.
In addition to that, Morgan was one of the TCAL representatives to the board of managers. He has served as the CCS Southern Conference realignment chairman for the past two rounds of realignment.
His background in wrestling is equally impressive.
Morgan is currently the coordinator of the CCS Wrestling Weight Management program and has been the master assessor for the CCS. For the past 18 years, Morgan served as the director of the CCS Championship Wrestling Tournament.
His credentials in the sport go far beyond the local level as he currently serves on the USA Wrestling board of directors and executive committee, serving that organization as 1st Vice President and 2nd Vice President twice.
He is currently serving as the treasurer of USA Wrestling, the National
Governing Body for wrestling in the United States. He has served as the chairman of the committee to select the Olympic wrestling coach for the 1996 and 2008 Olympic games. He is a distinguished member of the California Wrestling Hall of Fame.
He has been named California Wrestling Official of the year twice. Morgan has also been recognized as the California Wrestling Person of the year, San Jose PAL Coach of the Year, MHAL Coach of the Year four times; and was named USA Wrestling Man of the year in 1999.
“This position is different from what I’ve most recently been doing in that everything pertains to sports, but it’s not much different in the fact that I will be dealing with people and trying to solve their problems every day,” Morgan said.
