Eric Podley

Eric Podley was the longest tenured and most successful football coach for Bonita high school in the modern era. Podley worked for 40 years as a social studies teacher, football coach, athletic director and assistant principal with the last 20 being at Bonita.  While head coach at Bonita, Podley won 76 games between 2000-2011 and set the record for most Smudge Pot victories against San Dimas at 8. Among his peers, Podley was widely recognized for his high character, unmatched work ethic, and keen intelligence that ran innovative offensive schemes.

Podley reflected on the long hours required to be an effective head coach, “I don’t think people realize that in the early days, we spent seven days a week and late nights preparing for our next opponent. I always tried to be as efficient as possible, so my staff could spend more time with their families at home.”   Opposing coaches have commented that Podley was known for putting in new plays into his playbook each week, which made it possible for the Bearcats to catch an opponent off guard. He was always able to get the most out of his players even if they were undermanned or undersized. It was his attention to detail and ability to motive his players that enabled the Bearcats to be so successful. As an assistant principal, Podley was responsible for overseeing the modernization of Bonita’s new football field which was completed in 2019.

Before working for Bonita, Podley won a CIF title as an assistant coach & offensive coordinator at Muir in 1989. He also coached at Mater Dei, Servite and Chino before serving as a head coach at Northview for ten years.

Comments from his colleagues

Podley’s Coaching Record at Bonita

During his tenure at Bonita from 2000-2011, Podley’s football team was victorious 76 times and included a trip to the CIF-SS Southeast Division title game in 2010. West Covina would win 37-33 in a hard fought close game, but Bonita had a strong playoff run with wins over California (51-6), Muir (49-25) and La Serna (21-6).