Faith Lutheran football coach Vernon Fox resigns

Faith Lutheran football coach Vernon Fox has gone through the same process after every season.

He has evaluated where he is with his life, family and career, prayed on it and decided whether he wanted to return to the sideline.

Fox said it sometimes was an easy process. But it wasn’t this year, and after some time away during which he “unplugged,” he decided it was time to step away. On Tuesday, Fox informed the team and administration of his decision to resign his post as the Crusaders’ coach.

“I don’t know that it was anything profound that made the decision for me,” Fox said. “I just felt the time was now.”

Faith Lutheran was 53-28 in Fox’s seven years as coach, including a 12-2 record in 2013 that concluded with a 17-0 win over Churchill County for the Class 3A state championship. The Crusaders finished 5-6 last season and fell to Desert Pines in the first round of the 4A playoffs.

There was no immediate word on who would replace Fox as coach.

Fox said he met with players early Tuesday to let them know he was resigning.

“This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he said. “I told the players as they grow and mature, there are going to be crossroads in their lives. Some of them will be going through one of them soon with deciding which college they will attend. Then they will have more crossroads as far as picking a career and finding a spouse and those kinds of things.”

Fox said this isn’t the end of his relationship with Faith Lutheran. He plans on staying close with the program and will continue to mentor students.

He also hasn’t ruled out a return to coaching, but for now, he’s working to find balance and spend more time with his wife and two kids.

“Faith Lutheran has been nothing but amazing to me, and I’m grateful for the past seven years I was allowed to serve as the head coach,” Fox said. “I’m grateful for the time given to me to come to a decision for me and my family.”

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.