After two years in charge of the Gilroy High varsity football
program, Greg Garcia formally submitted his letter of resignation
to GHS Principal Marco Sanchez and Athletic Director Jack Daley on
Monday.
GILROY
After two years in charge of the Gilroy High varsity football program, Greg Garcia formally submitted his letter of resignation to GHS Principal Marco Sanchez and Athletic Director Jack Daley on Monday.
Citing personal reasons as a result of not having a full-time, on-campus position at Gilroy High School, Garcia said he felt it was time to step down.
“It was difficult between last year and this year building a relationship with the kids,” Garcia said Wednesday, referring to some of the roadblocks of not being on campus during school hours and not having the time to tutor and mentor his players at a level he felt was necessary.
Garcia said he made numerous monetary sacrifices to maintain his head coaching responsibilities during the fall season, holding out for the chance that a position with the school opened up.
“We looked at different options in order to keep him here,” Daley said. “Unfortunately, we were not able to work out an opportunity to get him full time. I understand his situation and sympathize with him.”
Garcia graduated from GHS in 1995, playing linebacker for the Mustangs in the early 90s.
“I love Gilroy High. It’s my school, my alma mater. It’s 100 percent of who I am,” Garcia said. “It’s what I’m about.”
Garcia led the Mustangs to a 6-14-1 record in his two years, which included a Central Coast Section playoff berth in 2009. The Mustangs were 1-1 against rival San Benito under Garcia’s watch and 1-0 against crosstown opponent Christopher High.
“Greg will be sorely missed,” Daley said. “He has done a lot of great things for Gilroy and brought a lot of pride and community to the program. I was certainly hoping that Greg would have been here a number of years.”
Daley added that due to low enrollment and budget cuts, the hiring process will run into some of the same hurdles and snags that were encountered in trying to figure out a way to keep Garcia on board. The search for a replacement is now under way, Daley said.
