Dave Bliss’ tenure at Calvary Chapel was brief, uneventful

Before he coached at American Preparatory Academy, Dave Bliss was hired as boys basketball coach and athletic director at Calvary Chapel, a Las Vegas Class 2A-level high school.

Bliss resigned from Calvary Chapel as its athletic director and boys basketball coach July 25 after almost a year on the job. His tenure with the Lions was brief and uneventful, filled with more losses than wins.

He steered the Lions to a 9-16 record in the 2017-18 season. But in the eight months since his departure, the NIAA made the school forfeit almost all of its league victories from the 2018-19 season for using ineligible players who arrived after Bliss was hired.

Jeff Newton, Lake Mead athletic director and basketball coach, acknowledged coaches in the Class 2A Southern League initially were skeptical of Bliss but said he “always crossed T’s and dotted I’s” during his time with the Lions.

Bliss, 75, expected to return for a second season but was issued what he believed to be a termination of his benefits — dated May 29 — and said he was fearful of losing his job. But then-superintendent John Trevino said Bliss was on a one-year contract and that it had not been voided or renewed.