After a frustrating Fall, the Long Beach Poly football program got some good news right before the holiday break. The CIF Southern Section has cleared the Jackrabbits’ program of any additional sanctions, according to an email sent by Poly principal Alejandro Vega to the Poly football community.
“After completing its review, CIF has informed our school that no additional sanctions will be imposed,” Vega wrote in the email. “CIF acknowledged the proactive steps taken by the school and District, including our internal investigation, personnel actions, and corrective measures, that addressed the findings and brought the program back into full compliance.”
The LBUSD conducted an investigation into the Poly football program last season that found violations by head coach Justin Utupo, an assistant coach who resigned during the season, and a staff assistant. Utupo and the assistant coach are both banned from coaching in the LBUSD going forward, according to the district.
Utupo, also previously a head coach at Millikan and Lakewood in the district, will no longer be the coach of the Jackrabbits’ program. The news that the CIF-SS has cleared Poly of any additional sanctions is good news for the school’s administration, which is in the process of hiring a new football coach, likely to be announced in January. That hire will inherit a program free and clear of any further CIF-SS sanction.
“We know these past several weeks have been extraordinarily difficult for our football players, their families, and the broader Poly community,” Vega wrote in his email. “The uncertainty, disappointment, and emotional toll of this situation have been deeply felt. We are truly sorry for the hardship this caused, especially for our student athletes who invest so much heart, commitment, and pride into representing Poly.”
The Jackrabbits’ application window for the program’s next head coach recently closed, with a large group of applicants for the school to sort through. Whoever takes over will do so with a clean sheet.
“With CIF’s decision now final, our focus turns fully to healing, rebuilding trust, and supporting our student athletes and coaches as they move forward,” wrote Vega.
This Fall, Poly was one of a number of local high schools rocked by CIF-SS transfer ineligibilities. Poly had six players ruled ineligible (with one regaining eligibility under a hardship transfer approval) and forfeit one game over playing an ineligible player. Millikan lost eight players to the same ruling and had to vacate two victories, while Compton saw one athlete declared ineligible but avoided forfeits because that player never took the field.
The three schools were caught in a larger CIF-SS crackdown on transfers using false addresses to gain immediate eligibility this year–long known as a widespread practice in Southern California as a way of getting around the month-long sit-out period for transfers. The CIF-SS investigated athletes from more than 40 schools this Fall, with dozens (including the local players) ruled ineligible as part of CIF-SS Bylaw 202, which punishes the use of falsified documents.
At a recent CIF-SS council meeting Commissioner Mike West said, “We had a real influx of fraudulent paperwork. It’s been significant and very disheartening,” according to the LA Times. West also mentioned that the CIF office has become “very adept at identifying” fraudulent transfer information.
When asked about what methods the CIF office is using, assistant commissioner Thom Simmons said in an email, “I would not want to get into specifics on that information. I will simply say that we are using all means necessary.”
The players ruled ineligible all took a two-year ban from the CIF-SS–the office can grant players eligibility next season if it so chooses, according to its bylaws.
Transfers have been an issue LBUSD-wide for the last few years. Poly’s five ineligible players drew the most attention this year because of the district’s investigation, but Millikan had eight players ruled ineligible this season and Wilson had five transfers denied in the 2024 season (under a different coach). When the investigation into Poly was completed in November, an LBUSD spokesperson said, “At this time, the District’s internal investigation focused solely on the concerns involving Poly High School and CIF Bylaw 202, B(5).”
