Randy Burgess, who built a water polo dynasty at Coronado High School, is returning for the Fourth of July holiday with a group of 65 boys and girls from Hawaii to scrimmage and experience Independence Day on the island.
Burgess now runs the water polo program at Le Jardin Academy in Kailua, and he said his squad also will be playing in the California State Games.
“We want to expose them to water polo at a higher level,” Burgess said. “And it will be great for the kids to experience Fourth of July in Coronado.”
His Coronado career included more than 700 wins, coaching athletes who would become Navy SEALS, All-Americans and a four-time Olympic athlete. Yet, it was derailed in April 2017, when allegations arose that he molested a minor.
Burgess said he never knew the child who made the claims, and he never was charged with a crime nor sued by the family that made the claim.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people – including several former players – signed a petition to rally around him, according to Matthew Herron, an attorney for Burgess.
“A lot of people have a deep debt of gratitude for him,” said Herron, whose son Connor played for Burgess and became a Navy SEAL.
Warm greeting
Burgess, who retired as a teacher in Coronado in 2019 and then moved to Hawaii, said the ordeal was tough for his wife and family.
But, he’s moved on
Things are now great. A lot of good came out of a bad situation.”
-Randy Burgess.
“Things are now great. A lot of good came out of a bad situation,” he said.
Burgess won 715 games during his 33 years of coaching water polo at Coronado High School, and he led the boys team to 16 section championships and the girls team to three titles, according to the San Diego Reader.
In 2000 and 2001, his Coronado Islanders were considered to be the best team in the nation and Burgess developed a reputation as being a hard-nosed coach.
“I was probably labeled a tyrant in those days,” he says with a chuckle.
Yet, Burgess, who still has a home in Coronado, was in town earlier this month and was warmly greeted by staff at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Complex at Coronado High School on June 6.
Homecoming in stride
Against one of the walls at the complex there is a painted portrait of him.
With flowing blond and gray hair and a goatee beard, Burgess is captured in a baby blue shirt with 17 tridents around his head.
They symbolize the number of Navy SEALS he coached, though the actual number is closer to 21, according to Burgess.
The portrait also includes Olympic rings as he developed Olympians Layne Beaubien, Genai Kerr and Jesse Smith.
Burgess is taking the homecoming in stride.
“It’s not about the place,” he told The Coronado News. “But, I’ll see a lot of former players and their spouses and children and that will be really special.”
Reunion with Jesse Smith
He said one of the best parts of coming back to Coronado will be seeing Smith, a former player who became a five-time Olympian.
Smith was hired this spring to run the water polo program at Coronado High School.
Smith, when asked about Burgess coming back to Coronado, had a two-word response: “It’s awesome.”
Burgess also said he’s thrilled Smith will be running the high school and local club water polo programs.
They (athletes) will realize what an incredibly opportunity they have playing for Jesse…His work ethic is undeniable.”
Randy Burgess on Jesse Smith taking over the Coronado High School water polo program.
“They (athletes) will realize what an incredibly opportunity they have playing for Jesse,” Burgess said. “His work ethic is undeniable.”
