In a move that could transform the school’s struggling football program, Beverly Hills High School (BHHS) hired Jeff Bailey as head football coach and director of strength and conditioning.
Bailey’s championship pedigree is nearly unmatched in California football in his more than 30-year career. As the founding coach at Yorba Linda High School, he led the team to two California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section championships. In his career that also included stints at Esperanza High School and El Dorado High School, he amassed 179 wins, 18 playoff appearances, 11 league titles and four CIF championships.
Beverly Hills went 0-9 last fall and has not had a winning season since 2010, a span that includes five winless seasons.
The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Education approved Bailey’s appointment on Feb. 24 with a starting salary of $205,656. As a former UCLA offensive lineman, Bailey told the Courier he was excited about the prospect of transforming a program.
“I love a challenge,” Bailey said. “I went to college in this area at UCLA and that kind of stuff is pretty, pretty awesome about the school. It’s well known, it’s a great community, and I’m just excited to be a part of it.”
Bailey said he hopes to start a lower-level junior varsity team as part of his plans to revitalize the district’s football program. He emphasized that establishing a culture that the whole school can take part in will be key to bringing winning football back to Beverly.
“Football is a game of hard work, and that kind of stuff is going to be a big part of what our program is going to be about,” Bailey said. “We’re going to prepare the kids physically and mentally with technique and all those kinds of things to help prepare them for a season. … I’m big on discipline. And I’ll be honest, my philosophy has always been that I want to create a good human, a disciplined human and the byproduct of that is we win a lot of football games.”
Bailey previously worked with BHUSD Superintendent Alex Cherniss, who formerly served as the superintendent at Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. He also has a past connection with Athletic Director Steve Lawson from their time together at El Dorado.
“This is a defining moment for our athletic program and for our community,” Cherniss said. “Coach Bailey’s track record speaks for itself. He builds cultures rooted in discipline, preparation and integrity. His leadership will elevate our football program and strengthen every athletic team on our campus. This reflects our commitment to educational excellence in every arena.”
Bailey emphasized that the best coaches adapt to the players and system they have. As a former offensive lineman, he wants to build the team’s strategy on physicality, discipline and consistency.
“My philosophy has always been stance alignment, get off,” Bailey said. “So, if you can get a good stance, you can get lined correctly and come off the ball correctly, you’re in a position to win. You won’t always win, but you’re in that position at least. If we have some good structure with our team, and they’re where they’re supposed to be, and make it hard for the other team, usually good things happen.”
As the district’s Director of Strength and Conditioning, Bailey will tailor programs for students districtwide to safely train with weights, utilizing the district’s facilities to develop a program that benefits physical and mental strength for every student in the district. Building on school pride and tradition, Bailey also said he wants to take the atmosphere of BHHS football games to the next level.
“When you have a strong football team, it sets the tempo for the whole year,” he said. “I’ve always been a school-first guy with cheer and other programs and the bands, and things like that to make it fun. I would love to make high school games more like a college game, where everybody’s into it with cheers and traditions. Obviously, I’m going to have to embrace some of the original traditions and then maybe make some of our own.”
Bailey’s appointment comes at an exciting time for BHHS’s facilities as the new Konheim Athletic Building is set to be completed in early 2027, complete with three full-size combination basketball and volleyball courts, a wrestling room, fitness center, bleachers, weight training facilities, locker rooms and offices. Following the building’s completion, the district will gear up to start construction on a new south side athletic field, complete with stadium seating and a track.
