Stanwood football coach resigns

STANWOOD – Stanwood head football coach Dave Telford resigned Monday, the school said in a statement released Wednesday.

Here is the complete statement:

“On September 21, Dave Telford, SHS Head Football Coach, submitted his resignation from his coaching duties effective immediately. Mr. Telford, acknowledged that he cannot expect his athletes to live up to the code of conduct, when he does not live up to the code of conduct himself. In his statement, Telford said, ‘In order to hold my athletes to a high standard, I must hold myself to a higher standard.’ Assistant coach, Eric Keizer, will assume the head coaching duties for the Spartans.”

Keizer had been serving as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Telford, the son of former Spartans coach Phil Telford, played at Stanwood and graduated in 1984. Dave Telford returned to his alma mater in 2013 and went 6-16 as the Spartans’ head coach, including a 1-2 mark this season.

Telford started his coaching career at Fresno State, where he played quarterback, and became an assistant at Stanwood in 2005. Two years later, he moved to Havelock High School in North Carolina to serve as an assistant coach before returning to Washington in 2008 to become the head coach at Monroe.

Telford spent three seasons with the Bearcats and then resigned in 2010 to become an assistant coach at Indiana State University before returning to Stanwood prior to the 2013 season.