Torrey grad brings ESPN back to nest

By: JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | Tuesday, October 9, 2007 1:07 AM PDT ∞

Be true to your school.

The Beach Boys sang about it in 1963, and 44 years later former Torrey Pines High quarterback Tom Luginbill still subscribes to it.

The Torrey Pines football teams hosts Poway on Thursday night in a game that will be carried nationally on ESPNU -- a game it was Luginbill's idea to televise.

As the national recruiting director for ESPN's Scouts Inc., Luginbill is in charge of evaluating high school football players for college recruiters. He also serves as the lead analyst for ESPN's high school football series, which this season includes 14 games.

Based now in Charlotte, N.C., Luginbill was in Alabama last Thursday for a game on ESPN2 between Daphne and Foley. Then he hopped a plane and was in Missouri on Friday for the ESPNU contest between Parkway North and Parkway West.

This Thursday, he'll be home for the Poway-Torrey Pines contest before leaving for a Friday game in Colorado between Cherry Creek and Grandview.

"ESPNU just got into the San Diego market, is on both Cox and Time Warner, so that area is very important to the network," said Luginbill, who led Palomar College to the 1993 J.C. Grid-Wire national championship then played at Georgia Tech and Eastern Kentucky before coaching in the professional ranks.

"The network people asked me about lining up two San Diego teams for a TV game, and it was my idea to get Torrey Pines on."

Unfortunately, Torrey Pines (1-4) is struggling this season, while Poway (5-0) is ranked No. 2 in the CIF San Diego Section.

"I know my Falcons are down a little, but this goes beyond the game itself," Luginbill said. "San Diego is my hometown, and I want to show it off.

"Torrey Pines -- hands down -- is the nicest on-campus facility we'll visit. Texas and Louisiana have big district stadiums that seat 25,000 or more, and they're pretty nice.

"But we won't visit a nicer on-campus facility than Torrey Pines. I want to show San Diego off."

ESPN and Luginbill will use halftime of Thursday's game to honor former Falcons coach Ed Burke, who retired at the end of last season after 40 years in the game.

Burke was honored at a banquet last week with nearly 600 in attendance.

Luginbill was working and wasn't able to attend the banquet.

"So this game is my tribute to San Diego football and Coach Burke," Luginbill said.

High school football has never been more popular on TV. In addition to ESPN, Fox Sports Net has a 10-game national package.

Six of the top 17 teams in USA Today's national prep rankings have played games on those networks this season.

Fox's Prime Ticket has a 17-game package involving CIF Southern Section teams and Channel 4 San Diego is in its second year of a game of the week package in San Diego.

"I can't speak for the other networks, but when ESPN decided to cover high school football, they said they wanted to cover it like it was an NFL game," Luginbill said. "So when I was approached about getting on board, I jumped at the chance.

"Now, this is my life. From August to February, I'm involved in evaluating recruits, calling games and appearing on all the studio shows.

"It's a grind, but I love it."

ESPNU is in roughly 21 million homes nationwide. In San Diego, the network is available to digital cable customers who subscribe to the sports and entertainment tier.

It's a little pricey, but if you're into sports, the package includes ESPNU, ESPNClassic, ESPNEWS, NBA TV, the NFL Network, CSTV, Fox Soccer Channel and the mtn.

"We're way ahead of where we thought we'd be when ESPNU launched," Luginbill said. "Hopefully we continue to grow, and hopefully we can make this visit to San Diego an annual deal."

-- Contact staff writer John Maffei at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.