Mater Dei football coach Raul Lara says he applied for the job twice on CIF Southern Section Sitdown

Raul Lara talks high school football, his time as a probation officer, and much more on the CIF Southern Section Sitdown.

New Mater Dei football coach Raul Lara was a guest on the CIF Southern Section Sitdown with SBLive's Tarek Fattal / Taylor Martinez/CIF

Season 2 of the CIF Southern Section Sitdown with SBLive's Tarek Fattal is underway.

The first guest of the 2024-25 season is new Mater Dei football coach Raul Lara, who is most notably known for his powerhouse teams at Long Beach Poly in the early 2000s. Lara won five CIF Southern Section titles in the Pac-5 (the highest division then) while at the helm of the Jackrabbits.

Lara, who was most recently at Long Beach St. Anthony, arrives to Mater Dei after going for the job the first time it became available.

"When (Bruce) Rollinson stepped down, who I have tremendous respect for, I applied for the position," Lara said.

Rollinson was the head coach at Mater Dei for 34 years before retiring at the end of the 2022 season. The school hired longtime assistant Frank McManus to replace Rollinson. Despite McManus' success on the field - winning the CIF Southern Section and CIF State Open Division championships (and a national title, too) - he was dismissed in April of 2023.

COLUMN: Mater Dei's dismissal of Frank McManus shows it needs CEO, not just a coach

"I went through the interview process," Lara explained. "I was one of the last candidates, but obviously they went with Frank."

But the opportunity came a second time.

"I'm a firm believer in the man upstairs, Jesus Christ. To me, it's a blessing and honor to be the head coach at Mater Dei," Lara said.

FULL EPISODE

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