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Nationally renowned high school football coach Bob Ladouceur announced officially Friday that he is resigning from his award-winning run as head coach at De La Salle High School in Concord.

At a press conference in the school's theater Friday afternoon, the coach who led the school's varsity football team on an 11-year winning streak -- the longest in the history of high school sports -- confirmed rumors he is stepping down, saying he believes it's the right time for a new
transition.

"That's all I've known for 34 years and I've enjoyed every minute of it," Ladouceur said, looking out at a crowd of photographers, reporters, former players and colleagues as he reminisced on his record-busting career at the Concord all-boys school.

The longtime coach said he now plans to work as an assistant coach and to focus on leading the school's younger football players, he said.

Now 58 and a husband and father of three, Ladouceur started his career as head football coach and religious studies teacher at the school in
1979. Since then, he has led the Spartan varsity football team to 399 wins, three ties and only 25 losses, according to school athletic officials.

During that time, the Spartans have won 29 North Coast Championships and 17 California State Championships. Last month, the team won the CIF Open Division State Championship Bowl for the fourth consecutive year.

Ladouceur has repeatedly been named "National High School Coach of the Year" by USA Today and was inducted into the national federation of State
High School Associations Hall of Fame in 2001. An ESPY nomination for "Coach of the Year" from ESPN followed in 2004.

But the longtime teacher and coach, who said he never yearned to take the helm of a college football team, said the relationships he's developed over the years with his fellow coaches and students have been the real highlights.

"(The students) are the ones that made it something more than just football," he said. "I will be forever grateful to them."

He said the Spartans' successes over the years are "a testament to what is possible when teenagers are determined to create an authentic team experience" and credited them for their commitment to training and taking on tough obstacles.

— Bay City News Service

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