As the Riverside King High football team prepares to join the ultra-competitive Big 8 League this fall, it will do so under the guidance of a new defensive coach, one who brings considerable experience to the position.

Lou Randall, who led Riverside North to three CIF-SS division titles, has been hired as King's co-defensive coordinator.

"It's always exciting to be coaching," said Randall, who was dismissed by North in January despite leading the Huskies to back-to-back CIF titles. "I love it. I've done it for a long time and I wasn't sure what was going to happen or where I was going to end up. I ended up at King."

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It won't take long for Randall to acclimate himself to his new team. North and King met yearly as members of the Ivy League and the two schools share the same stadium at King for home games.

Their rivalry will even carry over to the new Big 8 League -- the teams meet Oct. 10 at King.

Randall said he had reservations about taking a job that pitted him against his former team, but the opportunity to coach again -- in the esteemed Big 8, no less -- seemed hard to resist.

"I wasn't sure I wanted to do that," said Randall, who will share the defensive-coordinator duties with Dell Campbell. "I thought I had a great rapport, a great relationship with those kids who are going to be seniors. That was a hard part.

"But the league itself, just being a part of the league, North is one game. There's nine other games in the regular season."