High school football: Mater Dei hiring Raul Lara to replace Frank McManus as head coach

Raul Lara has been hired as the next head coach at national power Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.). He replaces Frank McManus, who was let go after one season.

Lara was the head coach at St. Anthony (Long Beach, Calif.) the last three years and led the Saints to a 21-14 record. He also spent five seasons at Warren (Downey, Calif.) but is best known for his 13-year run at Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.), where he led the storied program to a 142-30 record and five Southern Section titles.

During Lara's time at Long Beach Poly, he helped develop future college and NFL stars like Desean Jackson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marcedes Lewis, Winston Justice and Darnell Bing.

Lara has experience working with current Mater Dei president Mike Brennan during his time at St. Anthony and as an assistant at Servite (Anaheim, Calif.).

Mater Dei will have one of the most talented teams in the country next season and be in the mix to start the year at No. 1 behind rising stars like Dash Beierly, Mark Bowman, Jordon Davison, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, Daryus Dixson, Kodi Greene, Marcus Harris, Chris Henry Jr., Chuck McDonald III, Abduall Sanders Jr. and Nasir Wyatt. 

The Monarchs have finished in the top three of the national rankings in each of the past six seasons.

McManus led Mater Dei to a 13-1 record and third Open Division state championship since 2017 last season.

Prior to that, Bruce Rollinson served as the head coach since 1989 and led Mater Dei to a 341-87-2 record. The Monarchs went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country in 2017 and 2021.