Fresh Faces Galore as South Pasadena Preps for New Football Season

South Pasadena will see a new change on the sidelines as Marty Konrad takes over the head coaching duties from longtime coach Ed Smith, who was 65-96-4 in his 15 seasons as the head coach. The Tigers went 6-4 last season.

Konrad spent the past two seasons coaching the secondary at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. He posted a 24-18 record as the head coach of Flintridge Prep from 2001-2004 and led the Rebels to a CIF-Southern Section Division XIII title in 2003.

“We’ve got six weeks of summer ball. Our biggest goal is we need to get bigger, faster and stronger,” Konrad said. “I’m a weight room guy. I’m a big believer in strength and conditioning. We need to take care of that before we can even get to our Xs and our Os.”

Konrad said he plans to start off the new season with a fresh look.

“Another goal this summer is our fundraising. We have a car wash this Saturday,” Konrad said. “We need to raise money to purchase our varsity uniforms.”

Konrad knows things will not be easy in his first year, especially since the team is a younger bunch.

“We had about 70 kids on the roster for the spring so the turnout is good,” Konrad said. “We’re a young team. We have a small senior class that we’re trying to build around.”

Trying to replace three-year starter Conor Bednarski at quarterback will be someone who could also end up as a three-year starter in rising sophomore Joey Harmon.

“He’s shown some decent skill sets thus far,” Konrad said. “He’s got a strong arm. He’s a young guy though. He’s only going to be a sophomore.”

Kiran Reina, the quarterback on the freshman team a year ago, is expected to challenge Harmon for playing time.

Defensive back Miguel Lagunas is the top returner. Lagunas earned second-team All-Rio Hondo League honors last year.

“We have some promise for the future if we can keep building upon that,” Konrad said. “They haven’t been a weight lifting team in the past. I want to change that idea, that culture.”

Konrad said he is still doing playing evaluations to see how the group fits together.

“Right now we’re moving kids around,” he said. “We’re trying to get to know the kids.”