Heritage and Fort Vancouver high schools are in the market for new head football coaches.
Citing a desire to move closer to his family’s roots in northern California, Nate Becksted resigned on Monday after five seasons as the head coach at Heritage.
At Fort Vancouver, Cal Szueber learned two weeks ago that he will not be retained as head football coach after four seasons guiding the Trappers.
Becksted said he and his wife, Julie, want to move closer to the small Northern California towns where they grew up so that their 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter can be close to their grandparents. Julie Becksted teaches at Jason Lee Middle School in Vancouver.
Nate Becksted said he resigned as football coach once he and Julie made the decision to seek employment closer to home.
He said he will look for a head football coaching job no farther than three hours from his native Eureka, Calif.
“If I’m not 100 percent committed to doing the job here, then I need to get myself out of the way,” Becksted said.
Becksted said he will continue to fulfill the offseason duties of the Heritage football coach until a new coach is hired. He intends to continue teaching physical education at Heritage for the remainder of this school year.
“I love Heritage,” said Becksted, who was an assistant football coach for one season at Hertiage before taking over in 2006 for Dan Novick. “Heritage has the kind of kids you feel like you can make a real difference with. That’s what I got into coaching for.”
Heritage athletic director Leta Meyer said there is no time table for hiring a new coach. She noted that it will be some time before the budget for next school year is finalized and the school’s administration knows how many teaching positions might be available.
Becksted said he expects the Timberwolves to be winners in 2011.
“I think they can be competitive next year,” he said, pointing to a strong junior class on the 2010 varsity squad and a freshman team that won the 4A Greater St. Helens League.
Szueber said the end to his four-year tenure as the Fort Vancouver football coach was not his decision. Szueber was told two weeks ago that he would not be retained as Fort Vancouver’s football coach.
“We appreciate what Cal’s done, but we want the program to go in a different direction,” Fort Vancouver athletic director John Griffin said.
Griffin did not comment futher on the reasons for the decision to replace Szueber. He said the job opening will be officially posted after the winter break.
Szueber said he was surprised by the decision, but that he harbors no hard feelings and remains on good terms with the Fort Vancouver administrators.
“I felt that the program was much improved,” Szueber said.
The Trappers were 4-6 in Szueber’s first season, and went 2-7 each of the last three years. The 2010 team lost four games by fewer than nine points, and Szueber said this fall’s team was more competitive than its record indicated.
Szueber, who is teaching social studies at Fort this school year, said he will look for another coaching job.
Before coming to Fort Vancouver, Szueber was head football coach at four different Oregon high schools, including Roosevelt High in Portland.
He said coaching football is in his blood, noting that he has been a head football coach for the past 16 seasons, and an assistant coach before that.
“I’m going to look and see what happens,” Szueber said.
