New Pioneer HC Andre Ortega
By George Hernandez
Big George talks with new Pioneer head coach Andre Ortega who took over for Ramon Juarez. Ortega is a Titan alum and was the offensive coordinator for Montebello who made the CIFSS Finals last year in Division 13.
Q: What’s up coach? How’s it going?
A: Everything is going well. Hope everything is going well for you as well.
Q: I read you’re a Pioneer alum, how much does it mean to come back to your school and become head coach?
A: It means a lot to me. I have the opportunity to give back to my community and school that shaped me into the person I am today. Being able to be the successor to Coach Juarez is another plus to this. I’m thrilled to take over for someone I was coached by and in a lot of ways shaped my success as a coach.
Q: Where are some other spots you’ve made stops at during your coaching career?
A: I started at Workman High school under Coach Scott Morrison where I coached LBs and from there we headed to La Puente High School where I coached WRs, LBs, and DBs. From La Puente I headed to Whittier High School to coach Under Visko Ancich as the RBs coach and eventually the QBs coach. After my time at Whittier High School I headed to Cal High where I coached with Louie Zamora and Patrick Winchell as the WRs coach. For the past 4 years I was the offensive coordinator at Montebello High School for Coach Pete Gonzalez. I’ve been pretty fortunate to be under some successful coaches.
Q: You’re taking over a program that has had a lot of success the last two years with a pair of CIF Finals appearances with one championship. How do you plan to keep it going?
A: I mentioned in my interview I want to get together with Coach Juarez and Coach Willig, the previous staff, and talk about their success. I want to make sure I don’t completely change the ecosystem. There is success here already so I want to build off that and bring in my ideas that helped to the success at Montebello.
Q: How do you think you’re going to do in your new league?
A: I think the league has a fair level of competition. I think we will be successful enough to compete for a league title and make the playoffs.
Q: Are you going to be bringing in your own staff or mix it up with some of the guys that were here already?
A: We’ve mixed up the staff. I have my staff that I’m bringing along and they have staff that want to stay on.
Q: What’s going to be your offensive strategy? Are you going to pound it or air it out?
A: We will go based on our personnel. If we got the guys to air it out we will. If we got the guys to run the ball we will run it. I understand that we won’t always have the same type of players so each year will depend on our players.
Q: What will you consider a good first season for you as a head coach?
A: Above .500 record, winning league, and making the playoffs.
Q: I know you’ve only been out here a couple weeks now but have you been able to start up in the weight room or get on the field yet with the boys? If so who should we be looking out for on the field?
A: Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get out there. I was introduced to the team on Thursday. Coach Juarez mentioned some kids and he talked about how we will have the core of our defense coming back and some key players on the offensive line. I should be able to get some work with them real soon.
Q: Thank you Coach. Is there anything you would like to say or want people to know?
A: Just that I do understand what it takes to make it to a championship game. I know the amount of work it takes to be successful. And I’m just excited to get out there with my staff and get these kids ready for another great season. Also, I want to thank everyone for reaching out and for all the support I’m getting.
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@Just Sayin’
Yes… and that’s how everyone with open enrollment operates. They push the athletes into the allotted spaces first, then maneuver the rest of those transfers covertly to get them in. I get it. But this is not going to go away anytime soon, and Pioneer is better off not accepting transfers from a “school” like St. Paul. Those transfers would cause more harm than good.
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La Serna will take those football transfers at all times, don’t you dare call it out big George Hernandez is going to write an article about how they are the nicest transfers and sit at the front row of remedial math class.
Anonymous,
You and others that may have questions regarding Open Enrollment may need to take a closer look at the WUHSD Open Enrollment process. These transfers do not fall under the Open Enrollment policy. This is straight out of the WUHSD website, “The Open Enrollment application period ended on January 30, 2026 at 3:30 p.m. No more applications will be accepted for the 2026-2027 school year.”
Looks to me like exceptions are being made for specific, athletically motivated student-athletes.
Not to worry. There are a lot of synonyms for the word hate. I don’t think you can run out of any.
Did you really just say D14 is the toughest to win WOW. I’m at a loss for words
D14: The toughest division to win with like 300 teams fighting for a spot. Every D1-D3 gets a spot in the playoffs even if their 0-10.
@Just Sayin’
its open enrollment dude that ain’t changing anytime soon. Pioneer is better off without those transfers tbh
The article croons of the success of the two programs involved , Pioneer and Montebello. I have to scratch my head as the success glorified is largely an artifact of the new playoff system .
Montebello was 4-6 in regular season , but as 3rd place in Almont gained a great seed in D13. Their offense was stymied much of the season , being shut out by El Rancho and SEM (solid squads but not Doomsday defenses) and getting only one concession td while getting blown out by BG and Schurr . Things got easier when placed in D13 -with bottom 14% of playoff teams.
Pioneer was 2seed in D14 last two years . 2024 team was 4-6 and blown out by league rivals . How do you get into D14 ? If you are in the bottom 7% of all
Playoff teams , you get relegated there .
I can understand administrators falling for this PR of circumstances because it sounds great /CIF champions . However I feel some
Journalistic responsibility to view the larger picture of high school sports .
Best of luck to Coach in his new position at Pioneer!
I’ve heard that within the last couple of weeks some St. Paul transfers, including a few potentially residing in Pioneer’s attendance area, have ended up at the school on the hill. It’s disappointing that this is still happening.
Ortega tells Hernandez that he hasn’t had time to get over to Pioneer and start working, as if this is a home improvement project on which he is dragging his feet. Raise your hand if you think his attitude would be a bit more focused for the right dollar amount.
@FO
Worry about your own money.
Good Luck to you and your new team Coach Ortega.
Is this man a walk-on, or has he been given some of that big Whittier district money via a teaching job or similar employment? That’s the elephant in the room that all this smooth talk is dancing around.