LOS ANGELES — Susan Miller Dorsey High, a public school tucked away in one of Los Angeles’s historically Black neighborhoods, was once a high school football powerhouse in the city. The program bred N.F.L. talent like Keyshawn Johnson and captured five conference championships from 1982 to 2001.
But Coach Stafon Johnson estimated that before his first 2021 team meeting, he had five players on his roster. After the meeting in July, it was about 17, he said.
“There was no interest,” Johnson said in an interview. “Our history and tradition lives up to themselves, but we’re in the business of, ‘What have you done for me lately?