Brett Jay, who was hired last March to be the head football coach at Monroe High School, has resigned after one season, Monroe athletic director Mark Henderson said Thursday.
Jay submitted his resignation Tuesday, Henderson said.
“It was a bit of a shock,” Henderson said. “While he formally submitted his resignation on Tuesday, he and I had been talking since mid-December about it. I had really hoped that things would work out differently.”
The Monroe players and their parents met with Jay on Wednesday night and he informed the group he was returning to the Tri-Cities. Jay coached for six seasons at River View High School in Kennewick before taking the Monroe job. He replaced Dick Abrams who had coached at the Bearcatsl since 2011.
Jay told the players he’s “moving back to the Tri-Cities because it’s what’s best for him and his family,” Henderson said.
Monroe posted a 7-3 record last season and reached the Class 4A quad-district playoffs. Henderson said he hopes to hire a new coach soon.
“Coach Jay did an outstanding job of getting this program to another level and Coach Jay will tell you that the future is very, very bright here,” Henderson said. “We are loaded with talent. We have a great staff that wants to stay around. Of course, that’ll be up to the new head coach. We want to keep the ball rolling.
“(The players are) are working hard in the weight room. They’re excited. Granted, they’re disappointed. But we are looking to hire a coach as soon as possible so that we can keep the momentum going.”
Henderson said the school district posted the job opening Wednesday and within 24 hours he had six candidates, along with phone calls from two interested out-of-state coaches. He said he hopes to start interviews in the next week or two.
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