Newport Harbor coach Brinkley says he’s feeling better

Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley said Saturday afternoon that he is feeling better, after he was forced to leave the Sailors’ Sunset League finale at Huntington Beach on Friday due to his atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat.

Brinkley left the game, a 21-7 Newport Harbor win, at halftime. He said after a night of rest at home, he came out of the condition at about 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.

“I’m feeling better,” said Brinkley, 65, in a phone interview. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. It’s something that a lot of people experience, and I don’t have it very often. It just hit at a bad time. I got a little too emotional with the referee, and it kicked in at the wrong time.”

Brinkley, in his 32nd year as head coach at Newport Harbor, has dealt with the condition for at least a decade. He was forced to leave a game in 2007 after his heart started racing, and he was taken to the hospital.

The Sailors (2-8, 2-3 in league) forced a three-way tie for third place in league with Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach, but the Barons won the coin flip. Newport Harbor has applied for an at-large berth into the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs.

Brinkley said he’ll have no issues continuing to coach the team next week if the Sailors make the postseason.

“[The atrial fibrillation] has been under control,” Brinkley said. “I don’t want to take away from what the kids did [Friday] night. We’ll get back to work [Sunday], and hopefully something good happens and we sneak into the playoffs.”

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