{"id":107074,"date":"2016-01-19T18:31:44","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T01:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/parsons-resigns-as-mancos-football-coach\/"},"modified":"2016-01-19T18:31:44","modified_gmt":"2016-01-20T01:31:44","slug":"parsons-resigns-as-mancos-football-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/parsons-resigns-as-mancos-football-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Parsons resigns as Mancos football coach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Mancos
Mancos football coach Bill Parsons\u2019 resignation was accepted during Monday\u2019s board meeting. The Blue Jays finished the 2015 season 6-4 and made the 8-man football playoffs.<\/span>Jardyn Angell\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Mancos school board accepted the resignation of high school football coach Bill Parsons during its meeting on Monday evening.<\/p>\n

For the past two seasons, Parsons has shared coaching duties with Josh Gardner, Mancos\u2019 secondary physical education and health instructor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just thought it was time to step down,\u201d Parsons said in a phone interview on Monday night. \u201cI just thought it was a good time after we were in the playoffs this year to step aside and let somebody else have their chance at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parsons started in Mancos in 2010 as an AmeriCorps member, leading the Check & Connect program and serving as the middle school head football coach and high school assistant during the 2010 and 2011 seasons.<\/p>\n

After his contract was up, Parsons had what he called a \u201cJimmy Buffett moment,\u201d and he moved to Belize. He enjoyed the laid-back lifestyle for 20 months, but when word of an opening back in Mancos made its way to Placencia, Parsons responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have left Belize unless it was somewhere I really liked,\u201d he said.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so he returned to Mancos Re-6 in 2013, this time as a special education teacher.<\/p>\n

He also jumped right back into coaching, serving as an assistant during the 2013 season before taking the lead alongside Gardner for the 2014 season, going 2-7.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Parsons and Gardner led the Blue Jays to their first winning record since 2010, going 6-4 and making the 8-man football playoffs.<\/p>\n

Parsons mentioned the 2015 playoffs as one of the highlights during his time as coach, but he said that watching his athletes grow up has been the most rewarding aspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had most of these guys since they were in the sixth grade, and they\u2019ve come along really well,\u201d he said. \u201cJust to watch those kids come up from middle school that I had when I first got here. Seeing how much they\u2019ve improved, how much they\u2019ve learned and how they became winners over the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophomores Nic and Griff Huver started playing football for Parsons in 2011 when they were in the sixth grade. Then, after Parsons returned to Mancos, he coached them during their freshman and sophomore seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I\u2019ll always remember is his stories,\u201d said Nic. \u201cHe has so many stories to tell, no matter what time, it would always fit in. If it was during school, if it was during practice, he would always have a story to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parsons and Gardner both had college careers that tie them to football history, and their willingness to share their lives was documented<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n

But more than jokes or stories of football glory days \u2013 Parsons was a calming force for the Blue Jays and brought a sense of family to the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brought that camaraderie, that teamwork, that family,\u201d said athletic director Heath Showalter. \u201cHe\u2019s that coach, that soft place to fall and talk to, and he\u2019ll bend over backwards for anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe tells me everything; I tell him everything,\u201d said Griff. \u201cI feel like he is someone I look up to and can relate to in my life, and if I need to tell him something I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Andrew Plunkett \u2013 who played under Parsons for two years in middle school and then three seasons in high school \u2013 shares similar feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a funny guy and he always has something great to say,\u201d said Plunkett. \u201cHe was inspiring in the locker room before a game when he would come in and talk to us. He was encouraging to everybody in practice, and he\u2019s just a great overall guy. I was happy to play for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Parsons is stepping down from coaching, he\u2019ll still be around, connecting with Mancos students.<\/p>\n

He plans to continue leading the High School Exceptional Student Services and teach a strength and conditioning class.<\/p>\n

But without football responsibilities, he intends to spend his free time hiking, biking and exploring the outdoors.<\/p>\n

Mancos has yet to name a head coach for the upcoming season, but Showalter said that he expects Gardner to continue to be involved in the program.<\/p>\n

And on Monday, superintendent Brian Hanson said that Adam Priestley would likely return as head coach.<\/p>\n

Priestley, Mancos\u2019 secondary principal, was the Blue Jays head coach in 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2015 season was best since 2010; Priestley likely to return as coach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5770],"tags":[83],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-107074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school-sports","tag-mancos"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107074"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=107074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}