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# L.A.’s O’Hara calls former coach an inspirational leader
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/l-a-s-ohara-calls-former-coach-an-inspirational-leader/
- Published: 2008-08-08T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:36:19.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Sports, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*L.A.’s O’Hara calls former coach an inspirational leader*

SAMOHI For the new head coach of the L.A. Avengers, it all started on Friday mornings here.

Before the first bell rang for class, long before the kids flooded the quad at Santa Monica High School, a young Pat O’Hara would rise early for his pre-game ritual — a ride with varsity football coach Tebb Kusserow to St. Monica for mass, and then breakfast when the two would talk about everything, from game plans to life itself.

“There were many lessons learned,” O’Hara said. “Tebb Kusserow was someone influential in my life and career in Santa Monica.”

Those are lessons that O’Hara said will guide him as the new coach of the area’s Arena Football League team, the Samohi grad and former USC quarterback tapped late last month to guide the Avengers.

O’Hara, who played 14 seasons of professional football, two of which were in the NFL, is the fourth coach in franchise history, taking the reigns from Ed Hodgkiss who was fired in June after seven seasons with the team.

“I couldn’t image a better place and opportunity than to be here in Los Angeles with the Avengers,” O’Hara said. “I never though it would become a reality.”

After high school, O’Hara spent several seasons playing backup to star quarterback Rodney Peete and was expected to start in the 1989 season at USC until he suffered two torn ligaments in his right knee and fractured right tibia in practice 10 days before the opener. The injuries essentially ended his career at the Pac-10 school.

He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 10th round of the 1991 NFL Draft, the 250th overall pick, spending one season with the team before being picked up by the Ohio Glory, which was part of the World League of American Football, later known as NFL Europe. O’Hara was signed by the San Diego Chargers in 1992 as a free agent and was the team’s third string quarterback.

Three years later, he was with the AFL where he would win two ArenaBowl championships with the Orlando Predators.

After retiring following the 2006 season, O’Hara began his career in coaching, serving as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Storm.

“We felt that Pat possessed certain intangibles that would make him an outstanding head coach for our organization,” Matt Wikstrom, the Avengers team president, said. “We took a long look at several worthy candidates, but the discipline and commitment Pat exhibited as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator, coupled with his success as quarterback in our league, made him our first choice.”

O’Hara recently moved back to the Los Angeles area from Tampa Bay, spending the past few days hitting up the various NFL camps in the area. He visited his alma mater at USC during football practice to meet head coach Pete Carroll.

The introduction could prove fruitful. “There’s a lot of good football players around here at UCLA and USC and it does-n’t necessarily reflect on our roster,” O’Hara said. “I’d like to clean up the backyard here and keep some of these guys around.”

While O’Hara spent more than a decade playing professional football, his best memories could very well come from his time at Samohi where as a senior he was 127 of 224, throwing for 1,711 yards and 21 touchdowns, earning the Bay League Player of Year award.

As a junior in 1984, O’Hara led the Vikings to the CIF semi-finals.

He still remains close with his old coach, Kusserow even being in O’Hara’s wedding.

Kusserow, who coached at Samohi from 1972 to 1990, said the greatest players on and off the field are the unconditional givers, those who do everything for the team, regardless of the result.

O’Hara was one of those players, Kusserow said.

“It wasn’t just what he did on the field, it’s the way he conducted himself as a person,” Kusserow said. “Everyone respected him because he worked harder than everyone else.”

More than 20 years since his time as a Viking, O’Hara said Kusserow still remains his greatest inspiration.

“He was a huge influence on me,” he said.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/080808-05_01.jpg)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 8, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080808.pdf?ref=smdp.com)