Cliff and Roxanne, his wife of 51 years and No. 1 fan, have three children, Danielle of San Jose, Brian of Folsom, and Russell of Lowell, Mass. They have four grandchildren, Raye, Jeyda, Dalton and Jameson.
Twenty years had passed since Nordhoff High’s last football league championship. In four decades, the program had made just five postseason appearances. To turn the program around, Ron Barney liked what he saw in an assistant coach for Fallbrook High, the 1986 San Diego Division I Champion.
Farrar, with deep Ventura County roots, was hired in 1987. By his fifth season, Ranger football had risen from the Frontier League cellar to the top of the heap, winning the 1991 league championship. The 1991 team turned the program around and set the tone for 30 plus years with “A Tradition of Winning.”
For 15 of the next 16 years, the Rangers would capture nine league titles, make 15 playoff appearances, reach the semifinals eight times and finish as section runner-up in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2007. Cliff and his coaches would be Staff of the Year seven times and LA Times Ventura County Coach of the Year twice.
His Nordhoff teams were built on team unity, hard-nosed football, love of the game and great players. Nordhoff produced numerous league offensive and defensive Players of the Year. Josh Hawkins was the 1994 CIF Divisional Offensive Player of the Year.
His legacy was more than wins and championships. From pre-game parades to the stadium, drum lines inside the locker room, the Ranger horse leading the team onto the field, and embracing school and community traditions, Farrar lent his support. His players would say discipline, integrity, and the importance of character in their lives was instilled by all coaches.
He was Athletic Director for six years, helping start the Tri-Counties Athletic Association and introducing girls golf and girls water polo. He was an assistant track coach, helping to train several of the school’s record holders.
After leaving Nordhoff, Farrar turned around a struggling Buena program, leading it to the 2009 Channel League championship. Leaving after the 2011 season, he finished with a career record of 171-119-2, third best in Ventura County history. His playoff record was 26-16.
He would return to Nordhoff as the defensive coordinator under Coach Tony Henney, one of his former players, helping win section championships in 2012 and 2013.
Born in Ventura, Farrar attended Oxnard High. He was a defensive back on the 1965 Channel League Championship team and was a member of the track team’s school-record setting 4×400 relay. He ran track in Europe in 1969.
Farrar coached 53 years of football, 25 years of track, and eight years of basketball. He served two terms as President of the Ventura County Football Coaches Association. He and Russell are members of the Nordhoff Hall of Fame.