Mike Herrington is in his 25th year as the head coach of the Hart Indians.

Hart High School Coach Mike Herrington is one of eight national finalists for the first-ever, USA Today Best Coach in the Nation contest. The national round ends at 9 am PDT on October 29, 2013 and the coach with the most fan votes will be crowned Best Coach in the Nation. Voting takes place on USA Today High School Sports website: http://contest.usatodayhss.com/vote/bestcoach2013/final?votedfor=F. The top five finalists win a cash prize for their athletic department, with first place receiving $2,000, and all eight finalists receive a banner for their school.

Hart High School is part of the high-performing 23,000-student Wm. S. Hart Union High School District located in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Herrington, was elected by fans to represent California in the state round, after being selected as one of eight nominees from USA Today. Herrington received more than 180,000 votes in the regional round (Region 8), which ended last week.

About Coach Mike Herrington
Herrington, from Newhall, won six California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Championships and posted a 248-69-1 record, in 25 years of coaching. Under Herrington’s leadership, the Hart High Indians are 7-0 this season and continues in the No. 1 position in the CIF-Southern Section Northern Division as all schools are now into league play. Herrington comes from a family of coaching brothers.

Herrington, a Hart High graduate, began teaching at Hart in 1989 and is now in his 23rd year as head football coach at Hart. In 23 seasons under Herrington, the Indians have compiled 15 Foothill League Championships (1989, 1991-03, 2007), six CIF Championships (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2003), and were CIF Finalists in 1994, 2002, 2005 and 2007. Coach Herrington began his coaching career at Hart High School in 1980 and was an assistant coach until 1987. During those eight seasons, he was involved in five league championships and two CIF Championships (1983, 1986). He attended and played offensive line for two seasons at College of the Canyons and two seasons at Cal State Northridge. Coach Herrington teaches Physical Education at Hart and is also the Athletic Director.

“I have worked with Coach Herrington since 1998. He is an outstanding coach, but more importantly, he is an outstanding person,” Dr. Collyn Nielsen, Hart principal, said. “Recently, I was approached by a parent whose student had graduated more than a decade ago. He told me that Coach Herrington not only taught his son how to be a good football player, but how to be a good man. That is characteristic of the feelings and respect the Hart community has for Mike. Because of his impact on and off the field, Mike Herrington is very deserving of this recognition by USA Today.”

About Best Coach in the Nation Poll
Based on conversations with local media organizations, USA Today compiled eight nominees in each state and Washington D.C. for its first Best Coach in the Nation poll. Fans votes narrowed the initial list of 408 coaches to one representative from each state for the regional round. The winners of the eight regional polls represent the remaining national finalists.
The finalists also include: Jim Hightower of St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette LA; Rick Jones of Greenwood High School, Greenwood, AR; Jim Hoover of Walton High School, Walton, NY; Kevin Lynott of Middletown High School, Middletown, MD; Marcus Boyles of Petal High School, Petal, MS, and Jeff Van Leur of Bridgewater Emery Ethan High School, Emery SD.