The sidelines won’t be same without him. Mike Parsons resigns at Modesto Christian
Mike Parsons said Wednesday that during football season, he would work 12-hour days – and that was before family time.
In the end, it became too much.
Parsons, who also teaches at Modesto Christian, resigned as head coach of the Crusaders on Monday.
“It’s what I signed up for,” Parsons said. “I loved every minute of it. It just got to the point where it was a lot.”
The news was first reported by FrontRowPreps.
The “plan” originally was to coach for one or two more years while his daughter, Hannah, a sophomore, was on campus.
But, after a “tough” loss to Ripon Christian in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI semifinals, Parsons started to debate the decision before telling his wife last Friday that he would step down.
“Those sophomores and juniors deserve a coach that has a full tank of gas,” Parsons said. “My gas is low. The kids deserve better.”
Senior quarterback Hayden Sauser, who spent two years on the varsity team, said Parsons meant a lot to the program.
“He truly cared about all the players on both the junior varsity and varsity level,” Sauser said. “He was really passionate about winning football games but he definitely cared more about making great men that are respectful and have great character.”
Parsons had two separate stints as head coach for the Crusaders. He was head coach from 2004-09 and then again from 2014-18.
The Crusaders won a CIF State Championship under Parsons in 2009 and shared Trans-Valley League titles in the last two years.
“There is a biblical aspect to it (coaching at MC),” Parsons said. “It’s a big part of why I came back.”
Parsons said there were some tears when he recently told the team and he is going to have a “tough” time walking away from the kids.
Junior defensive lineman Xavier Carlton said the decision by Parsons was “hard to swallow.”
“He meant everything to us, to me, to our team and the program,” Carlton said. “The sidelines won’t be the same without him.”
| School | Outgoing Coach | Incoming Coach |
| Beyer | Doug Severe | Not Announced |
| Gregori | Jason McCoy | Lamar Wallace |
| Modesto | Brett Wagner | Not Announced |
| Modesto Christian | Mike Parsons | Not Announced |
| Pacheco | David Snapp | Not Announced |
| Ripon Christian | Trey Ozenbaugh | Randy Fasani |
