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| Doug Semones, a 1983 grad of Cal Lutheran, has retired from his post at Occidental. Occidental athletics photo |
Doug Semones, Occidental's head football coach for the past four seasons, has retired. After taking over a 2-7 team in 2012, he led the Tigers to three consecutive winning seasons and coached two SCIAC Offensive Players of the Year.
Occidental was 1-8 last season.
"We'd like to thank Doug for his four seasons as our head football coach. His contagious enthusiasm has been a real spark for our program and we wish him all the best as he gets to spend time with his wife Linda in retirement," Oxy athletic director Jaime Hoffman said. "His philosophy, with an emphasis on student-athletes, has been felt across Oxy and he's made a tremendous impact on the lives of hundreds of Oxy football players, continuing Oxy's excellence on and off the field."
A search for an interim head coach in currently underway. Nobody on the current listed coaching staff has head coaching experience at the collegiate level.
In his first three years, Semones led Oxy to three consecutive 5-4 seasons with a 4-3 record in conference play. His signature win came against his alma mater Cal Lutheran in 2013 when Tigers beat the Kingsmen 44-34, handing Cal Lu just its second SCIAC loss in 29 games.
Semones' Oxy teams have become known for their terrific offense. In 2015, running back Kwame Do became the SCIAC's all-time rushing leader and earned SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year honors, and in 2016 quarterback Bryan Scott broke the SCIAC all-time passing yards record and earned SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year honors. Scott recently made news when he performed well at the Los Angeles Rams rookie camp.
During Semones tenure, 12 Tigers have been named first team All-SCIAC, six named to second team and one was named the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year. In 2014 nose tackle Dallas Gosselin was named D3football.com All-West Region as well.
Prior to Oxy, Semones spent three seasons at Yale from 2009-11 where he worked with the outside linebackers and coached the defensive line.
Before his stop in the Ivy League, Semones coached at various places around the country in high school, college and pro.
He won four OIA championships and went 68-14-2 in seven seasons as the head coach (1989-95) at Kahuku HS in Hawaii and later had a three-year stint as the special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at the University of Hawaii from 1996-98. Shortly after his tenure with Hawaii, he was the defensive and special teams coordinator for the Hawaiian Islanders of the Arena Football League.
Semones grew up in Mesa, Ariz. and then later played defensive back at Scottsdale Community College and Cal Lutheran, where he earned his BS in physical education in 1983. In 1994, he earned masters in special education at Hawaii.