Windsor High School football coach Tom Kirkpatrick steps down

Windsor football coach Tom Kirkpatrick has left the program after taking the surprising Jaguars all the way to the North Coast Section Division 2 ?championship game this past season.

Kirkpatrick, 64, didn’t retire and wasn’t pushed out, he said, but left as the school was considering replacing him with another local coach and on-campus teacher for a long-term commitment.

“I was willing to coach and planned to coach,” he said Tuesday by phone. “My staff and I were planning on it, this ?year coming up. So it was disappointing to me to not be coaching.”

Two seasons ago, Kirkpatrick, a respected and successful Healdsburg coach from 1987-2000 and 2007-2011, was hired in an effort to strengthen Windsor’s overall program development - not just on-the-field success.

He replaced the previous coach of three years, who was let go after school officials said he was “not building enough character off field.”

The agreement Kirkpatrick said he made with administrators at the time was that if the school had the opportunity to hire a committed coach who would also be an on-campus teacher, he would step away.

Two weeks ago, that possibility came up, he was told.

A week later, the decision hadn’t been finalized.

“I went in the following week,” Kirkpatrick said, “and it still hadn’t been nailed down. In the meantime, my coaches are asking what’s going on and I wasn’t able to start my offseason program. So I said I’ll go ahead and step aside.”

Kirkpatrick took the Jaguars to the NCS playoffs each of this two years at Windsor. In the 2015 season, the team finished 7-5 (4-3 in the North Bay League), improving to 9-4 (4-3) last season.

In 2015, the Jaguars advanced to the Division 2 quarterfinals before losing to Clayton Valley Charter. Last season, they advanced to the championship game, losing to Campolindo, which went on to win a state championship.

In his nearly two decades coaching, Kirkpatrick has never had a losing season.

Over the past couple of weeks, stories have swirled throughout the coaching community that Cardinal Newman’s Paul Cronin was interested in coming to Windsor, where he lives.

Cronin said Tuesday those were just rumors.

He has children who attend Catholic elementary school and intend to continue in that vein.

“Our commitment is to St. Rose and the Cardinal Newman community until our kids graduate,” he said.

He said he’s looking forward to coaching the Cardinals football team again in the fall. Cronin, at Newman since 2004, led his team to a 12-2 record and undefeated NBL title this season (7-0).

The Cardinals advanced to the Division 2-AA state playoff regional final, losing to Valley Christian.

“I’m really excited about the players we have coming back this year,” he said.

Kirkpatrick said it was difficult notifying his players and his assistants that he won’t be back, especially under less-than-ideal circumstances. He said a number of his assistants knew the school was looking for another coach before he did.

“I don’t want it to be contentious,” he said. “I don’t want there to be bad feelings. But everybody knew this was happening but me. I was pretty disappointed that they’d leave me out of it.”

Still, he understands that the school would like to have an on-campus teacher/coach who can commit to building and developing the program.

“I was an on-campus coach for a long time; it is a huge advantage,” Kirkpatrick acknowledged. “In the long run, this is going to be what’s best for the high school.”

Neither Windsor principal Marc Elin nor athletic director Jeff Hardie returned messages Tuesday afternoon about the coaching vacancy.

The move is the second coaching position to open up in Sonoma County this week.

Monday, Analy’s Daniel Bourdon announced he was stepping down after nine years to spend more time with his wife and their baby.

Meanwhile, Kirkpatrick is already enjoying his personal time.

Tuesday he and his wife were golfing with friends in sunny Palm Springs, looking up at snow-capped mountains.

“We’ve got the RV,” he said, “and we’re planning on going to Europe.”

You can reach Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.