Coach of the Week: Kevin Rooney of Notre Dame High School

SHERMAN OAKS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Guided by head coach Kevin Rooney, Notre Dame High School football has won four CIF championships.

Rooney has been the architect of one of Southern California's top football programs for the past 31 years, winning 265 games and 16 league titles.

"We've had great kids, great athletes," he said. "Good kids who work hard and are smart and are disciplined. We have a great coaching staff. Many of my coaches have been here as long as I have."

The passion is evident even on the practice field. It's one of many elements in Rooney's recipe for success.

"We want to play as hard as we possibly can" Rooney said. "Effort, discipline, teamwork. Our guys stick together and enjoy each other's company and play hard together during games."

Rooney was nominated to be ABC7's Coach of the Week by a school administrator who says Rooney's players learn valuable life lessons about respect, teamwork, trust and desire through football.

The longtime coach at Notre Dame asks a lot of his players on the field and in the classroom. For the past three decades they've delivered. Ninety-nine percent of his players go on to college.

"We expect them to be gentlemen, we expect them to be great students, we expect them to keep their priorities straight," Rooney said. "There's no special privileges for them because they're football players. They're regular students when they're on the campus and they've done a great job of doing that through the years."

Through the years Rooney has won many state and local coaching awards, adding another as the ABC7-NFL High School Coach of the Week.

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