Lenny Vandermade, the 2024 Bay Area News Group coach of the year, is leaving St. Ignatius.
Vandermade, who just completed his second season coaching at the San Francisco school, will be returning home to Southern California, where he will join Santa Margarita High School as its associate head coach.
He will reunite with new Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer, a former All-Pro NFL quarterback who was Vandermade’s teammate at USC.
Vandermade, 44, attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana before leaving for college.
At Santa Margarita, Vandermade said he will be the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.
“As coach Vandermade embarks on his next chapter, I want to extend our community’s deepest gratitude and warmest wishes to him and his family,” SI principal Michelle Nevin Levine wrote in a statement to the campus community. “I am confident that the positive impact he has made on our community will endure for years to come.”
Vandermade revitalized SI’s program in his two seasons in charge, culminating with a Central Coast Section Open Division championship last fall.
The 2024 Wildcats had to go to the second-half well several times to pull out big wins. Against Serra, SI trailed by 13 in the fourth quarter before rattling off back-to-back touchdowns to win 21-20.
The next week against Archbishop Riordan, the Wildcats spotted the Crusaders a 21-0 lead before coming back to win 31-28. Three weeks later, the Cats trailed Valley Christian 13-3 at the half but rallied to win 20-13.
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Then, to cap it all off, SI overcame a 7-3 halftime deficit to take down St. Francis 10-7 and win its first CCS Open title since 2012.
The search for his replacement will begin immediately, Nevin Levine wrote in her statement. SI offensive coordinator Jujuan Lawson has been named interim head coach for the time being.
