Coach Bruce Rollinson’s long goodbye begins with playoff rout of JSerra

This would not be the last game Bruce Rollinson coached at Mater Dei.

This — a Friday night Division 1 playoff matchup against JSerra — would not be the last time his gruff voice rung out from the sidelines underneath the trademark bushy mustache. This would not be the last time he led his juggernaut in red-and-white jerseys in their pregame war cry, the last time he shouted “clap it up,” the last time he slapped junior quarterback Elijah Brown on the helmet and told him to sling it.

But the possibility was suddenly there, for the first time in 47 years, that Rollinson wouldn’t be wearing a headset by this time next week. On Thursday night, the bombshell dropped at 5 p.m., a tweet from Mater Dei: Rollinson had “recently decided,” the statement read, that he’d be retiring after the season.

And the Monarchs players took up their three-striped pitchforks, taking off with a 21-point second quarter in a 54-14 win after an early challenge from JSerra.

“Every win from now on is for Coach Rollo, it starts tonight!” wide receiver Marcus Harris tweeted Friday, adding a red heart before the exclamation point.

“Thank you for all you do for us,” offensive lineman DeAndre Carter tweeted.

Regardless of the admiration and respect he commands from the Mater Dei football community, it won’t be a smooth ride into the sunset for the 34-year Monarch head coach. Last fall, he came under fire when a former player filed a lawsuit against Mater Dei alleging a culture of hazing that led to a brain injury. A safety assessment was launched by the school 12 months ago, which remains “in progress” according to the Diocese of Orange.

Allison Bergeron, the executive director of communications and media relations for Mater Dei, said she didn’t know if the announcement was circumstantial to any new information discovered. However, school president Michael Brennan told The Times that the school didn’t put any pressure on Rollinson to retire.

“Purely his decision,” Brennan said, standing on the sideline Friday night. “We’re really grateful for everything he did.”

Brennan said Mater Dei is “not in a hurry” to commence their search for a new coach, and will likely wait until Christmas.

The goal for the rest of the season, Brennan said, was to celebrate a coach that had given 47 years to the program, winning three state championships in the past five years. And the Monarchs flew across the field at Santa Ana Stadium on Friday like bursts of red-and-white confetti, as Jordon Davidson sped for 158 yards and three touchdowns just in the first half.

And if all goes according to the Monarchs’ plan, Rollinson’s last game won’t come until the Dec. 10 Open Division title game.