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ELAC turns to Cain to revive program

Lynn Cain, star of the 1974 state championship East L.A. College football team, has been named head coach of the Huskies. The former USC and NFL standout has been coaching at Price High in South L.A.
Lynn Cain, star of the 1974 state championship East L.A. College football team, has been named head coach of the Huskies. The former USC and NFL standout has been coaching at Price High in South L.A.



Wave Staff Report 20.DEC.07

Thirty three years ago, running back Lynn Cain played a major role in helping the East Los Angeles College football team go from despair to distinction. Cain is back and looks to return the program to respectability as its new head coach.

In 1974, Cain was named the state player of the year after leading ELAC to a victory over San Jose City College in the Shrine Potato Bowl in Bakersfield and the state championship trophy that came with it. Cain would eventually go on to star at USC and in the NFL.

ELAC’s march to the title in 1974 capped an unlikely turnaround that saw coach Al Padilla’s Huskies go from 1-8 the previous season to state champions the next.

Cain now takes on the difficult task of reviving a program that has won only one game in two seasons, including an 0-10 record this year, under former coach Reuben Ale.

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to coach at the school that I attended and played at, and to be back among friends and family,” Cain, 52, said. “My friends are very excited, too. I’ve heard from so many of them. Friends and coaches were calling me to tell me that they were pulling for me to get the job, so it really feels good to be back in the area.”

Cain spent the past five years coaching football at Price High School in South Los Angeles, the last four as head coach. Cain also coached high school football in Atlanta after his professional playing career ended.

At the four-year college level, he had assistant coaching stints at Southwest Baptist College in Missouri and Division I-AA Morris Brown University in Atlanta. He also was an assistant with the Georgia Force of the Arena Football League for one year.

The Roosevelt High School grad says that his goal is to prepare ELAC’s players for the four-year college level.

“I want to help the student-athlete know what it is to be a student-athlete,” Cain said. “Many student-athletes have the aspiration of transferring to the four-year college level. The first things college recruiters look for in a student-athlete are academics and character. Those are the areas that I am setting out to work on. I think I can help the student-athlete academically and athletically.”

Cain has a motto when it comes to the student-athlete.

“Anything I ask you to do, I’m willing to do, and I’ve already done,” he said. “My goal is to lead by example and not just talk about it.”

Though only a freshman, Cain immediately drew interest from the major four-year colleges, including USC, as he led the Huskies to the title in 1974. He was offered a scholarship by the legendary coach of the Trojans John McKay. He switched from halfback to fullback and played three seasons at USC, including two for McKay’s successor, John Robinson. He started for Robinson’s 1978 national championship team and left as USC’s all-time leading rusher among fullbacks.

Cain was drafted in the fourth round by the Atlanta Falcons in 1979 and spent six seasons with the NFL club. He was re-united with Robinson, his college coach, in 1985, when he was acquired by the then-Los Angeles Rams. He retired after that season.

Cain, the youngest of four brothers who also has four sisters, grew up in the Estrada Courts housing project in Boyle Heights. He is also the uncle of front man and producer will.i.am of the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas. He recalled coming real close to quitting the football team at ELAC.

“I questioned why practice was so hard and I didn’t feel good about all the work that I was putting into it,” he said, adding that he is grateful that he decided to continue to work hard. “Had I quit, I never would have played on a state championship team, never would have gone to USC and played on a national championship team, never would have played in the NFL, and never would have met my wife.”


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Congratulations Lynn Cain

East Los Angeles College has named Lynn Cain as their new head football coach.

Lynn Cain played for the National Football League Atlanta Falcons from 1979 to 1984 and for the Los Angeles Rams in 1985.
He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1979 NFL Draft. He managed to have his best year in the NFL in his second season,
1980, rushing for over 900 yards and 8 touchdowns. Lynn wore #21 for the Falcons, and took the Falcons to the 1980
NFC Championship Game, along with William Andrews and Steve Bartkowski.

College Career

Mr. Cain began his college career after graduating Roosevelt High School at East Los Angeles College in 1974. He starred on the Husky State Championship team. He was named the State’s MVP for that year. He was then recruited and attended the University of Southern California.

Mr. Cain was starting fullback for 1979 USC Trojans, who won the National Title that year. Sharing the backfield with Lynn was
Heisman Trophy winners Marcus Allen and Charles White

Trivia

Cain is the uncle of Black Eyed Peas front man and producer will.i.am.