In a move that’s sure to make a huge splash locally, Lakewood has hired Scott Meyer as its football coach. Meyer will start immediately and will be on campus for the Lancers as a teacher, hoping to bring the luster back to a proud program that’s fallen on hard times.
“I’ve always been a Long Beach guy,” said Meyer. “I still live in town–I had a great experience in Orange County the last eight years but Long Beach is my home and I love the district and the city. I want to help. I’m a fan of the Moore League although I haven’t been coaching there for a while. I want to see that league be one of the strongest leagues again for the public schools.”
Meyer is coming from University High, Servite, Corona del Mar, and Jordan. Most notably for local fans, Meyer coached Jordan into relevance with the likes of future NFL player John Timu on his team. His combination of coaching skill and ability to keep North Long Beach players at their local school has made him an attractive target for Long Beach schools.
Meyer spent six years at Jordan, taking a 1-9 team in 2006 to a 7-3 record in 2008 that included a win over eventual CIF-SS Division 1 semifinalist Lakewood, as well as Moore League Player of the Year honors for Timu.
Meyer was hired at Irvine’s University High in April and coached one year, going 3-7 this past season. He’ll replace Mike Christensen
“Our program is ready,” said Lakewood boys’ athletic director Mike Wadley. “Mike Christensen did a great job with the equipment, uniforms, everything in setting the table for the next person. We want to move forward and be dominant again, and we think Scott brings that to the table.”
A member of a legendary Long Beach family, it was no secret that Meyer wanted to get back into the Long Beach Unified School District; he was a candidate for the open Poly job last year as well and likely would have been one of Millikan’s first calls for its recently-vacated position.
Meyer expressed optimism that he can bring the Lancers’ program back to SoCal prominence.
“It’s not the same Lakewood as it was 10 years ago, but I think there’s a ton of potential there,” he said. “I want to make a great connection with the Pop Warner program and I’m excited about the new track and football stadium that are coming.”
Meyer’s father, Jon Meyer, is a longtime Long Beach Unified School District board member and his grandfather, Cliff Meyer, was a Wilson legend–the Bruins’ football stadium is named after him.
Prior to University, Meyer was at Servite for three years, a job he got after leading CDM to four consecutive league titles and three CIF-SS championships.
Meyer will replace Mike Christensen at Lakewood; Christensen helped built Lakewood into a strong program in Division 1 more than a decade ago, before Thadd MacNeal led the Lancers to a league title and back-to-back CIFSS semifinal appearances. This go-around wasn’t as successful for Christensen and Lakewood, as the team missed the playoffs the last two seasons, the first time in more than 15 years that’s happened. Lakewood hasn’t had a winning season since going 6-5 in 2014, and has had four coaches since MacNeal departed following the 2010 season.
“With Scott’s time at Jordan, we know he knows the league and the area,” said Wadley. “He’s a Long Beach guy, he can be successful here.”
Meyer actually began his high school coaching career at Lakewood as an assistant, making this a homecoming of sorts for him.
“I’m super excited to be back in Long Beach Unified and at Lakewood,” said Meyer.
