Travon Patterson has been hired as the new head coach of the Long Beach Poly football team, the school’s boys athletic director Rob Shock confirmed Monday afternoon.
Patterson, who served as Poly’s associate head coach last season, is the program’s third head coach in 14 months.
He is the school’s first alum to lead the program since 2013.
The 37-year-old is a 2006 Poly graduate. He played high school football for former coach Raul Lara and college football for Pete Carroll at USC before transferring to Colorado for his senior season.
The former receiver also spent time playing professionally in the NFL with the Chargers and in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes. He is a realtor in Long Beach and will be a walk-on coach.
Patterson replaces Justin Utupo, who was the team’s head coach for one season before being ousted in November after an internal investigation related to CIF eligibility rules. Utupo replaced former coach Stephen Barbee, who resigned in December 2024.
Poly went 6-6 in 2024 under Barbee and 5-5 last season under Utupo.
The Jackrabbits finished second in the Moore League the past two seasons.
They had to forfeit a nonleague win and six transfer players were declared ineligible in September 2025.
On Oct. 31, the school announced it had withdrawn from the CIF Southern Section playoffs, less than 48 hours before the brackets were released.