Capistrano Valley Makes It Official and Names Patton

Eric Patton, the interim football coach at Capistrano Valley High School for the final two weeks of the 1987 season, officially was named the school’s coach Friday by principal Tom Anthony.

Patton, 37, replaced Dick Enright on Nov. 13 after Enright was suspended by Capistrano Unified School District officials for violating the California Interscholastic Federation’s code of ethics and scouting prohibitions before Capistrano Valley’s South Coast League game against El Toro. Enright ultimately resigned from coaching.

Capistrano Valley lost its final two games under Patton and finished 8-3, including a forfeiture of its 22-21 victory over El Toro.

Patton, a two-time all-Southern Section linebacker at Mater Dei High School, has been an assistant at Capistrano Valley since the school opened 10 years ago. This is his first head coaching job.

Patton earned a scholarship to Notre Dame and later played for the Green Bay Packers and the Southern California Sun in the World Football League.

Patton was one of four finalists interviewed. Others were Ray Panici, offensive coordinator at Capistrano Valley and an assistant at the school since 1978; Joe Wood, first-year assistant at Capistrano Valley and a former head coach at Layton High in Utah, and Greg Lee, an assistant at Dana Hills for the past four seasons.