Long Beach Unified announces the firing of 3 football coaches

A spokesperson for the Long Beach Unified School District announced Wednesday that it has completed an internal investigation regarding seven athletes who violated CIF Rule 202, which states that all transfers must submit accurate paperwork, and imposed a penalty on three football coaches involved in the transfers, including the firing of head coach Justin Utopo.

In a media release, the district said that Pauley’s head coach has been released and will not be allowed to coach in the district. One of the assistant coaches who resigned was also banned from coaching. Another assistant has been relieved of all coaching duties and transferred to another location to be a campus staff assistant. The district said it concluded that “three coaches engaged in unethical conduct inconsistent with the CIF eligibility rules.”

Utopo said he resigned on Wednesday morning after meeting with his players and was not aware of the zone’s announcement.

Utupo came from Lakewood this season to be the head coach of a Long Beach Poly program that has won 20 CIF titles. After a 5-5 season, the school announced that it would not allow the team to be part of the Southern Section playoffs.

Moving forward, the district said it will review all sports programs in its district to ensure “protocols, training and expectations are clearly understood and consistently enforced.” The district is also waiting to see if the southern section has any additional penalties. Seven Poly athletes were placed in the Southern Section transfer portal where they were disqualified for two years for violating Regulation 202.