Jack-of-All-Trades Gets the Job He ‘Always Wanted’ : Versatile Assistant Coach Willard to Lead Baseball Program at Camarillo

Jack Willard was selected Friday to replace Ken Wagner as Camarillo High varsity baseball coach, just three days after Wagner accepted a similar position at Moorpark College.

Carl Thompson, Camarillo athletic director, said he notified the other candidates--Al Tarazon of Channel Islands High, Mark Morrison of Buena High and former Cal State Northridge Coach Terry Craven--of Willard’s appointment before their scheduled interviews.

“We looked at the situation and decided we better make a decision,” Thompson said. “With Jack, we had a really good candidate on campus.”

A shortage of teaching openings at the school contributed to the decision, which was finalized earlier than expected.

Willard, 31, has worked at Camarillo for nine years and is a full-time English teacher. He attended Camarillo and played baseball and football for the Scorpions before graduating in 1976. He went on to play two seasons of baseball at Moorpark College and another at Cal Lutheran.

Willard’s coaching experience includes three seasons as Camarillo girls’ basketball coach, the past two seasons as softball coach, one season as Camarillo’s American Legion baseball coach and one season as a varsity baseball assistant. He also is a varsity football assistant and will continue to coach girls’ basketball.

He takes over a baseball program that last qualified for the playoffs in 1986. The Scorpions were 12-13 in 1989 and tied for fourth in the Marmonte League with a 5-7 record.

“I’m relieved to have the kind of job I’ve always wanted,” Willard said. “You see other people getting jobs and kind of wonder when your shot will be.”

He said his first goal is to lead the Scorpions back to the playoffs, via the practice field.

“I’m not a two-hour-a-day person,” he said. “I just don’t work that way. I have a lot of motivation toward practice, and I always have.

“One great fear, as far as being a coach and a teacher, is a lack of preparation. I will do anything to avoid being unprepared.”

To Thompson, Willard is a known commodity.

“Jack brings a lot of intensity to the program,” he said. “He has a lot of enthusiasm, and so did Ken. So I see it as a continuation of the program.”