The Clausen brothers will combine to coach a California prep football team
Remember Casey Clausen? Sure you do. The former University of Tennessee quarterback and older brother of Rick Clausen and Jimmy Clausen, both former starting college quarterbacks in their own right. While the youngest Clausen is still technically on an NFL roster — Jimmy Clausen was put on Carolina’s injured reserve in August — both Casey and Rick have remained active in football by serving as assistant coaches at Oaks Christian High (Westlake, Calif.).
Now the Clausen brothers are taking their show on the road, with Casey hired as the new head football coach at Calabasas High (Calabasas, Calif.) on Thursday. His first hire? His brother Rick, whom he tabbed to serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
"I think it’s a great opportunity," Casey Clausen told the Los Angeles Times' Eric Sondheimer.
There will be plenty of work to do for the Clausen brothers once they get settled in their new surroundings. Calabasas finished the 2013 season 0-10 and fired coach Christian Pierce on December 5. In three seasons, Pierce was just 3-27 leading Calabasas.
While Clausen can hope to receive at least as much patience as Pierce did, he will have to hope for more leeway than Calabasas’ last celebrity hire benefitted from. In June 2012, former Reds relief pitcher Rob Dibble was hired as Calabasas’ baseball coach; his tenure ended after just 10 games the following spring.
At the moment, those concerns seem to be far away from the Clausen brothers, who are excited to get started.
"I'm really excited about this," Casey Clausen told the Los Angeles Daily News. "Obviously, I'm looking forward to an opportunity to build a program over there, a program to be proud of. I got a lot of experience at Oaks Christian and learned a lot. I can't thank [former Oaks Christian coach] Bill Redell and [Oaks Christian head coach] Jeff Woodruff enough.
"We're looking forward to going over there and building something. I did talk to Jimmy, and I think he's excited for us. He's supportive about our chance to put our own stamp on a program."
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is the editor of Prep Rally on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at preprallyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
