Dennis Moody will not return as the head coach
Dennis Moody said he wanted to keep his promise to coach this year’s juniors as seniors, but Heritage High School opted to go in a different direction with its football program.
“In reality, it was a bit of relief,” Moody said Friday afternoon. “I don’t know if I was ready for the rigors of another season.”
While he would have liked another season, he understands, to a degree, with the school’s reasoning. Moody did inform the school that if he were to come back it was only going to be for one more season.
With that information, school administrators made the decision not to renew Moody’s coaching contract.
“We sincerely appreciate the many contributions that Coach Moody has provided our football team and the positive impact he has had on our student athletes and the Heritage community,” said Jason Castro, the school’s athletic director.
Moody was an assistant coach in 2018 when Heritage made a change atop the program. Before a head coach was named, it was Moody who organized offseason workouts, trying to get the athletes on board while waiting to hear who would become the head coach.
The school rewarded his efforts and named Moody the head coach. Back then, Moody thought it would be for only one season.
The Timberwolves went 2-7 that first year, then won three games in a seven-game COVID schedule, then 2-7 again this fall. Heritage did get a big win over rival Evergreen, the highlight of the season.
While the record might not have been impressive, Moody said he loved the passion from the players and his assistants.
“Credit our guys and our coaches who kept grinding and made no excuses and kept playing,” Moody said.
The team’s participation numbers grew in Moody’s first season as well. The pandemic hurt in that department.
“I’m too old to be doing a rebuild,” Moody said.
Moody is still a teacher at the school.
“I love it here at Heritage,” he said. “The kids are great.”
Castro said there is no definitive timeline for a new coach to be named. The job will likely be posted after the winter break.
Earlier in the football offseason, Hudson’s Bay coach Ray Lions announced he was resigning. Lions was the Eagles’ coach for five seasons, leading the program to a winning record in 2017.
