Warrior mentor steps down

WASILLA -- Nathan Ford has stepped down from his position as head coach of the Wasilla High football program. The Warrior mentor ends a nine-year run at the helm of Warrior football.

A search for Ford's replacement will begin immediately and Wasilla High School officials hope to name a successor by the end of the winter.

"He has the highest integrity of anyone I have worked with," Wasilla athletic director Doug Bean said of Ford.

According to Ford, there are several factors that led to his decision.

"(It was) a bunch of little things," Ford said. "I thought about it for a little bit and after the Colony game I knew that a new face was needed for our guys."

"The biggest thing is he brought in a lot of dedication," Dan Michael, Ford's assistant coach and offensive coordinator since 1995, said. "He puts in a lot of hours in the offseason. He is a hardworker with a lot of integrity and that rubbed off on the kids."

"I had no problem putting in the amount of hours necessary re-writing playbooks, spending hours in the summer lifting program," Ford said. "At the end of the year I could say that I gave these kids an honest day's work. I know that it will take a lot of work to bring us back to a playoff team and go into the playoffs. I am losing energy to do that. I didn't want to hang on and further degrade what we have done since 1995."

"I felt like a change was needed," Ford added. "I didn't think the kids were doing what I felt they needed or what I wanted them to do."

Ford, also the program's lifting coordinator, also felt the team strength was not where it should be.

"There is a new lifting coordinator, I fired myself," Ford said.

Ford also cited family reasons for his resignation.

"Family is definitely an issue," Ford said. "With young kids, it gets harder and harder to put in the time. I decided to take some time off."

Ford's time and effort helped take a football program from a nearly dormant state and turn it into an annual contender.

In his first season as the Wasilla head coach, Ford had just 35 athletes try out for the Warrior football squad and the team finished with just a 1-7 record.

As Ford continued as head coach the numbers on the roster and the win column each grew exponentially for Wasilla. By the end of his tenure as head coach, Ford had led the Warriors to a pair of outright conference championships and to the 1999 4A state title game.

The Warriors also began attracting more than 100 players per year.

"People don't even realize that in his first year, we didn't even have 40 kids out," Bean said. "The highest we have had involved since is 119. At Wasilla we have C-teams that don't swing players. The high numbers are a direct reflection of Nathan Ford."

"Even when our record wasn't great, we were still pushing 100 kids," Michael said. "Every kid on the C and J.V. teams play. We try to keep freshman together as much as we can, other programs don't do

that."

Prior to being named head coach of the Warriors, Ford served as assistant for Wasilla during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Ford started his run as a local prep football coach as an assistant with Palmer High School during the 1991 and 1992 seasons.

Also not returning to the Warrior coaching staff is Michael, who has been with Ford since 1995.

"We came in together, so we are going to leave together," Michael said.

The search for Ford's replacement will begin immediately.