BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Kern County’s newest high school will have a familiar face guiding its football team when it opens its doors later this year.

Former West, Frontier, and Ridgeview High School head coach Rich Cornford has been appointed as the first coach in Del Oro High School history.

A Valley champion with the Vikings in 2005, Cornford will develop the Suns football program from the ground up.

Del Oro High School is scheduled to open it’s doors in August 2022, but it won’t play at the varsity level until at least the 2023 season.